BX  9195  .D55  1883 
Dickson,  David,  1754-1820 
The  elder  and  his  work 


I  1 1  E 


ELDER  AND  HIS  WORK 


BY 


DAVID  TUCKSO 


Master  of  the  Merchant  Company  of  Edinburgh 


REPRINTED    FROM    THE    THIRTEENTH    THOUSAND    OF 
THE    EDINBURGH    EDITION 


PHILADELPHIA 

PRESBYTERIAN  BOARD  OF   PUBLICATION 

No.    1334  CHESTNUT  STREET 


PREFACE. 


The   following  tractate   is  from  the  pen  of  one 

of  the  best-known  and  most  useful  elders  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland.  It  has  passed  through 
thirteen  editions  in  Scotland.  It  is  entirely  prac- 
tical in  its  scope,  and  abounds  in  the  most  admir- 
able suggestions.  In  this  edition  some  local  ref- 
erences have  been  omitted,  with  the  consent  of 
the  author.  It  is  believed  that  it  will  be  found 
eminently  adapted  for  circulation  among  elders  in 
our  American  churches. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  Importance  of  the  Eldership 5 

II.  The  Elder's  Qualifications 7 

III.  Duties  of  Elders 12 

IV.  The  Elder  in  his  District 16 

V.  Ordinary  Visitation 21 

VI.  Visitation  of  the  Sick 28 

VII.  Family   Worship  — The  Young  —  Inquirers  — 

Seryants,  etc 33 

VIII.  Special  Means  of  Doing  Good 46 

IX.  Cases  of  Discipline 61 

X.  Members  Encouraged  to  Work 65 

XL  Intercourse  between  Church-Members,  etc...  71 
XII.  The  Elder's  Relation  to  the  Minister,  Ses- 
sion, etc 75 

XIII.  Incidents — Encouragements  and  Discourage- 
ments   83 

4 


THE  ELDER  AND  HIS  WORK. 


CHAPTER    I. 

IMPORTANCE  OF   THE    ELDERSHIP. 

We  need  no  new  machinery  in  the  Christian 
Church.  It  is  all  provided  ready  to  our  hand  in 
the  Presbyterian  system.  What  we  need  is  motive- 
power  to  set  it  going  and  keep  it  going.  We  need 
the  baptism  of  the  Spirit  to  fill  us  elders  with  love 
and  zeal,  that  we  may  labor  in  our  office  and  that 
the  work  of  our  hands  may  be  established. 

The  eldership,  under  some  form  or  other,  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  a  healthy  and  useful  Church. 
The  Wesleyans  have  adopted  it  largely  in  the  form 
of  class-leaders.  Many  Baptist  and  Congrega- 
tional churches  expect  their  deacons  to  do  elders7 
work.  And  many  intelligent  Episcopalians  desire 
to  have  lay  agency  formally  sanctioned  in  their 
churches.  That  union  of  order  and  liberty  so  dis- 
tinguishing our  clastic  Presbyterian  system,  which 
is  not  the  result  of  the  experience  of  ages,  but  was, 
as  we  believe,  laid  down  in  the  New  Testament 
eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  will  bear  the  test  of 
practical  trial   in  every  land. 

5 


b'  THE    ELDEK    AND    HIS    WORK. 

So  necessary  is  the  eldership  for  the  superintend- 
ence of  a  congregation  that  practical  wisdom  would 
demand  it  even  if  Scripture  did  not  provide  it.  In 
ordinary  congregations  it  is  physically  impossible 
for  the  ministers  to  do  all  that  is  needful,  or  they 
must  cease  to  give  themselves  to  prayer  and  the 
ministry  of  the  word.  It  is  expected  that  our 
ministers  shall  prepare  two  sermons  or  lectures  ev- 
ery week,  and  that  these  shall  be  the  result  of  much 
study  and  thought.  We  do  not  enter  on  the  ques- 
tion whether  this  is  reasonable  in  all  circumstances, 
or  for  spiritual  edification  ;  we  merely  take  things 
as  they  are.  And  besides  the  weekly  preparation 
of  two  discourses  the  minister  is  expected  to  visit 
his  whole  flock  in  succession,  especially  attending  to 
the  sick.  Then  he  has  other  duties  as  a  public  ser- 
vant of  Christ.  It  is  therefore  utterly  impossible 
for  him,  singly  and  alone,  to  care  for  several  hun- 
dred souls  as  they  ought  to  be  cared  for. 

As  our  object  is  not  a  controversial  but  a  prac- 
tical one,  we  do  not  enter  on  the  Scripture  argument 
for  the  office  of  the  eldership.  Should  any  one 
wish  to  study  the  subject,  we  may  refer  him  to  the 
work  of  Dr.  Lorimer,  embodying  the  excellent 
tract  on  this  subject  by  James  Guthrie  of  Stirling, 
the  honored  martyr  of  the  second  Reformation ; 
also  to  the  learned  and  most  useful  treatise  on  the 
office  of  ruling  elder  by  Dr.  Miller  of  Princeton, 
Xew  Jersey  :  to  the  work  of  the  late  Dr.  M'Kerrow. 


the  elder's  qualifications.  7 

which  gained  the  prize  offered  for  the  best  treatise 
on  the  subject  by  a  devoted  and  liberal  elder  of  the 
United  Presbyterian  Church  in  Edinburgh  ;  and 
last,  not  least,  to  the  eminently  practical  volume 
from  the  pen  of  Dr.  King. 


CHAPTER    II. 
THE    ELDER'S   QUALIFICATIONS. 

Before  referring  to  duties  it  may  be  profitable 
to  dwell  a  little  on  the  qualifications  required  for 
the  elder's  office,  as  we  gather  these  from  the  Epis- 
tles to  Timothy  and  Titus,  from  Peter's  First  Epistle 
and  from  other  passages  of  Scripture. 

1.  The  office  and  work  being  spiritual,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  elders  should  be  spiritual  men.  It  is  not 
necessary  that  they  be  men  of  great  gifts  or  worldly 
position,  of  wealth  or  high  education;  but  it  is 
indispensably  necessary  that  they  be  men  of  God, 
at  peace  with  him,  new  creatures  in  Christ  Jesus  ; 
engaged  in  the  embassy  of  reconciliation,  they 
must  be  themselves  reconciled.  We  must  love 
the  Master,  and  the  work  for  the  Master's  sake. 
If  we  do  love  it,  it  will  be  a  happy  service 
because  a  willing  service.  And  as  our  souls  pros- 
per our  work  will  prosper ;  the  joy  of  the  Lord 
will  be  our  strength. 

Let  us  "take  herd  unto  ourselves"  as  to  our  real 


8  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

state  of  heart  and  our  motives.  Are  we  living 
branches  of  the  true  Vine,  and  are  we  growing? 
Though  the  work  of  the  eldership  is  in  itself  very 
honorable  and  very  interesting,  yet  it  will  be  dull, 
formal  and  worthless  unless  there  be  a  real  and 
growing  love  to  Jesus  in  our  hearts.  That  is  the 
only  oil  that  will  make  the  lamp  burn,  and  keep 
it  burning.  We  must  be  men  of  prayer  if  we  are  to 
honor  the  Lord  in  our  office.  And  we  must  have 
the  word  of  Christ  dwelling  in  us  richly,  studying 
especially  the  details  of  his  own  ministry  on  earth 
and  such  chapters  as  the  twelfth  of  Romans  and 
the  thirteenth  of  First  Corinthians. 

2.  We  should  have  a  good  knowledge  of  the  word, 
of  God,  and  be  able  to  give  a  reason  for  the  hope 
that  is  in  us.  Not  that  we  must  be  theologians, 
able  to  grapple  learnedly  with  all  heresies  or  con- 
troversies ;  but  we  should  be  well  read  in  our  Bibles, 
and  able  to  do  what  Aquila  and  Priscilla  did  to 
Apollos.  Elders  should  be  men  to  a  certain  extent 
"  stablished,  strengthened,  settled,"  not  "  novices," 
whom  the  elevation  to  office  in  the  Church  is  likely 
to  make  heady,  fonvard,  crotchety,  conceited.  For 
very  young  men  and  very  young  Christians  other 
useful  though  humbler  spheres  are  more  suit- 
able. It  is  a  very  great  help  to  an  elder  to  have 
been  for  some  years  previously  a  Sabbath-school 
teacher,  and  thus  accustomed  to  study  the  truth 
and  to  apply  it.  Such  work  will  also  test  his 
intelligence  and  interest  in  divine  things.     If  an 


THE    ELDER'S   QUALIFICATIONS.  9 

elder  is  to  discharge  the  duty  laid  upon  him  in 
Scripture — to  reprove,  rebuke  and  exhort,  to  be 
able  by  sound  doctrine  to  exhort  and  convince 
gainsayers — the  word  of  God  must  be  the  man  of 
his  counsel,  his  daily  companion. 

Let  me  not  be  thought  to  discourage  elders  from 
the  study  of  theology  as  a  systematic  science.  Any 
one  who  has  studied  the  Confession  of  Faith,  as  all 
elders  should  do,  is  no  mean  theologian.  And  it  is 
a  great  strength  to  the  Church  of  Christ  that  many 
of  her  laymen  (as  they  may  be  called  for  want  of  a 
better  word)  should  be  well  up  in  doctrinal  contro- 
versy. Elders  who  have  time  and  ability  for  this 
should  give  themselves  to  it.  No  heresy  ever 
becomes  extinct,  as  some  volcanoes  are  said  to  do, 
for  they  all  come  out  of  the  old  human  heart, 
which  is  as  full  of  evil  as  ever.  But  the  old 
heresies  assume  new  forms  well  worthy  of  study 
and  detection ;  and  the  world  listens  to  an  exposure 
of  them  more  readily  from  laymen  than  from 
ministers,  even  though  not  half  so  able  or  con- 
clusive. 

3.  Elders  should  be  men  of  common  sense,  know- 
ing when  to  speak  and  when  to  hold  their  tongues. 
Even  grace  does  not  give  common  sense,  a  little  of 
which  would  settle  many  controversies  and  heresies 
in  the  Church  of  Christ.  Men  of  points  and  pugna- 
city are  very  annoying  in  a  session  or  congregation, 
and  they  may  rise  to  be  the  terror  of  presbyteries 
and  other  church  courts.     They  may  love  the  truth 


10  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

at  heart — and  we  believe  they  often  do — but  they 
love  fighting  too.  For  such  men  the  grave  and 
quiet  duties  of  the  eldership  have  little  or  no  charm. 
A  carping,  censorious  spirit  is  to  be  watched  and 
prayed  against  in  all  of  us:  it  is  often  the  precursor 
or  companion  of  backsliding  in  doctrine  or  life.  An 
uneasy  conscience  likes  to  find  faults  in  others.  Hav- 
ing many  different  characters  and  tempers  to  deal 
with,  we  need  as  elders  to  be  men  of  a  meek  and 
quiet  spirit,  not  going  from  one  extreme  to  another 
— men  of  practical  wisdom  and  sanct'fied  common 
sense,  and  thus  able  to  judge  of  matters  calmly  and 
not  as  partisans. 

4.  We  must  be  consistent  in  our  life  and  conver- 
sation;  we  must  be  clean  that  bear  the  vessels  of 
the  Lord ;  men  of  good  report,  both  with  them  that 
are  without  and  them  that  are  within  the  Church ; 
model  members  of  it;  ensamples  to  the  flock  in  faith, 
hope  and  charity,  ruling  our  own  children  and  our 
own  houses  well.  In  these  days  wolves  find  it 
profitable  to  put  on  sheep's  clothing,  for  a  certain 
amount  of  religious  profession  is  a  help  and  not 
a  hindrance  to  a  man's  worldly  prosperity.  The 
Church  and  the  world  are  thus  in  danger  of  frat- 
ernizing, and  it  is  always  the  Church  which  loses. 
Let  us  elders  avoid  all  appearance  of  evil.  Let  us 
be  known  in  business  as  men  whose  word  is  as  good 
as  our  bond;  not  mean  or  shabby  in  our  dealings, 
not  considered  hard  or  money-loving  men  (which 
brings  greater  reproach  on  the  Christian  name  than 


THE    ELDER'S    QUALIFICATIONS.  11 

even  the  cases  of  flagrant  hypocrisy  that  sometimes 
occur),  but  willing  to  let  go  the  doubtful  penny,  as 
becomes  God's  royal  priesthood,  whose  treasure  is 
in  heaven.  Let  us  by  our  daily  life  declare  plain/// 
that  we  seek  a  country  by  our  being  sober,  just, 
holy,  temperate.  Let  us  be  liberal  to  Christ's  cause 
according  to  our  ability;  attached  to  our  own  Church 
and  our  own  congregation,  and  at  the  same  time 
lovers  of  all  good  men  and  good  causes,  for  the  man 
who  loves  his  own  family  best  has  usually  most 
room  in  his  heart  for  those  outside  of  it;  given  to 
hospitality  and  seeking  to  make  our  house  a  home 
for  God's  people. 

The  usefulness  of  an  elder  will  depend  in  the 
long  run  more  on  his  character  than  on  his  gifts 
and  knowledge.  Quiet  Christian  consistency  will 
give  weight  to  his  words  of  advice  and  be  a  daily 
lesson  to  all  around.  His  walk  and  conversation, 
his  style  of  living,  his  companions  and  friends,  his 
geniality,  his  amusements,  will  all  have  an  import- 
ant influence,  not  only  on  his  own  family,  but  on 
the  people  of  his  district  and  congregation.  Young 
people  especially  notice,  and  get  good  or  evil  from, 
much  that  they  do  not  speak  about  to  others.  They 
should  learn  from  us  what  a  Christian  is  like,  not 
by  the  frequent  use  of  certain  pious  expressions,  but 
by  the  clear,  transparent  outflow  of  a  life  hid  with 
Christ  in  God.  Brc  .hren,  what  manner  of  persons 
ought  we  elders  to  be  in  all  holy  conversation  and 
godliness? 


12  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

5.  Last,  not  least,  we  should  be  men  of  dap  sym- 
pathy— not  only  having  human  kindness  in  our 
hearts,  but  that  sanctified  and  consecrated.  Having 
experience  of  the  ups  and  downs  of  human  life,  we 
should  have  sympathy  with  human  hearts,  ready 
ever  to  weep  with  them  that  weep  and  rejoice  with 
them  that  rejoice.  The  world  is  not  governed  by 
logic,  and  to  do  much  good  in  it,  especially  as  Chris- 
tian men  and  elders,  the  words  of  truth  we  speak 
must  come  warm  from  our  hearts,  or  they  fall  cold 
and  pointless.  It  was  once  said  to  me  of  another, 
"He's  a  good  man,  but  somehow  he  never  reminds 
me  of  Jesus/'  Much  of  our  usefulness  will  lie  in 
not  only  knowing  the  wants,  natural  and  spiritual, 
of  our  people,  but  in  our  having  that  heart-sympa- 
thy with  them  which  will  make  us  open  our  hearts 
to  them,  and  will  lead  them  to  open  their  minds 
and  hearts  to  us  in  return.  AVe  can  best  learn  this 
by  living  in  fellowship  with  Him  who  was  dis- 
pleased with  his  disciples  when  they  rebuked  the 
mothers  for  bringing  their  little  children  to  him, 
and  when  they  wished  the  hungry  multitude  to  be 
sent  awav  unfed. 


CHAPTER    III. 

DUTIES    OF    ELDERS. 

The  following  extract  from  an  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  passed 


DUTIES   OF   ELDERS.  13 

in  1846,  gives  an  excellent  summary  of  the  duties 
of  elders: 

"  1.  That  they  sit  in  session  along  with  the  minister,  and  assist 
in  the  administration  of  discipline  and  in  the  spiritual  govern- 
ment of  the  church. 

"2.  That  they  take  a  careful  oversight  of  the  people's  morals 
and  religious  principles,  of  the  attendance  upon  public  ordi- 
nances and  of  the  state  of  personal  and  family  religion. 

"  3.  That  they  visit  the  sick  from  time  to  time  in  their  sev- 
eral districts. 

"4.  That  they  superintend  the  religious  instruction  of  the 
young,  and  assist  the  minister  in  ascertaining  the  qualifications 
of  applicants  for  admission  to  sealing  ordinances. 

"5.  That  they  superintend  and  promote  the  formation  of 
meetings  within  their  districts  for  prayer,  reading  of  the  Script- 
ures and  Christian  fellowship  among  the  members  of  the  church." 

The  elder  labors  under  two  great  disadvantages. 
In  the  first  place,  while  he  has  a  general  idea  of  the 
work  to  which  he  has  been  set  apart,  there  is  no 
prescribed  or  understood  plan  laid  down  for  him  in 
the  doing  of  it.  Each  elder  has  thus  been  left  to 
do  what  seemed  right  in  his  own  eyes.  Any  fixed 
plan  it  would  be  impossible  to  lay  down,  as  every 
elder,  every  district  and  every  congregation  differs 
so  much  from  every  other.  We  can  therefore  easily 
understand  how  elders  who  are  timid  or  inexperi- 
enced feel  a  difficulty,  and  do  much  less  than  they 
might  do. 

Another  disadvantage  is,  that  the  time  when  he 
should  visit  his  district  is  not  naturally  suggested. 
A  minister  once  said  to  us  regretfully,  in  reference 
tn  his  week-day  duties,  "  No  bell  rings  me  to  my 


14  THE    ELDER   AND    HIS    WORK. 

■ 

work."  The  remark  applies  still  more  to  an  elder. 
No  bell,  not  even  the  Sabbath-bell,  rings  him  to  his 
work ;  he  can  do  it  at  any  time.  There  is  no  day 
or  hour  that  naturally  reminds  him  of  his  duty, 
a  disadvantage  under  which  a  deacon  or  Sabbath- 
school  teacher  does  not  labor.  No  wonder  that 
with  some  of  us  the  any  time  becomes  the  no  time, 
and  especially  if  we  have  never  so  engaged  in  the 
work  as  to  have  known  the  blessedness  and  enjoy- 
ment of  it. 

We  do  not  suggest  that  our  churches  should 
lay  down  rules,  either  as  to  details  of  the  work 
elders  should  do  or  the  time  when  they  should  do 
it.  There  are  many  reasonable  objections  to  this. 
We  would  rather  seek,  by  bringing  under  the 
notice  of  elders  the  various  plans  by  which  elders 
of  different  churches  and  congregations  seek  to 
discharge  their  duty,  to  furnish  hints  as  to  how 
we  may  in  our  several  spheres  use  the  office  to 
which  we  have  been  ordained  for  the  good  of  the 
souls  committed  to  our  care. 

The  time  required  for  the  efficient  discharge  of 
the  elder's  duties  is  not  great,  especially  where  the 
office  of  the  deacon  is  established.  On  the  aver- 
age, and  generally  speaking,  two  hours  a  week 
might  be  enough,  perhaps  even  less.  Most  Chris- 
tian men  should  be  able  and  willing  thus  to  give 
one-fiftieth  part  of  their  week-day  waking  hours 
to  this  work,  and  we  are  sure  that  neither  their 
family  nor  their  business   would  be  lo 


DUTIES   OF    ELDERS.  15 

Our  object  is  to  gather  together  and  place  before 
the  minds  of  our  brethren  in  the  eldership  useful 
methods  that  have  been  or  might  be  taken  for  doing 
good  in  their  respective  districts.  Some  of  them 
are  new,  but  most  of  them  have  been  used  success- 
fully by  elders  in  various  spheres  and  various 
churches.  It  is  one  of  the  evils  of  our  want  of 
co-operation  as  churches  that  good  plans  are  em- 
ployed by  one  church  or  by  one  elder  which,  if 
only  made  known,  would  at  once  commend  them- 
selves to  others. 

Of  course  no  one  will  imagine  that  all  the 
various  plans  are  applicable  to  all  districts.  Dr. 
Elder  of  Rothesay  remarks  (in  an  admirable  address 
to  elders  published  some  years  ago,  from  which  I 
have  taken  several  useful  hints) :  "  The  eldership 
exhibits  the  greatest  possible  variety  in  respect  of 
outward  circumstances,  of  natural  and  spiritual 
gifts  and  of  means  and  capabilities  of  usefulness. 
It  is  one  of  the  many  excellencies  of  our  Presby- 
terian system  that  it  draws  its  office-bearers  out  of 
all  classes  of  its  membership,  from  the  noble  to  the 
peasant,  from  the  merchant-prince  to  the  humble 
artisan,  from  the  philosopher  down  to  the  lowly 
cottager  who  has  no  learning  but  that  which  is  of 
God."  Then  our  districts  differ  very  widely,  as 
do  the  congregations  of  which  they  form  parts, 
whether  in  town  or  country,  urban  or  suburban, 
composed  of  the  upper,  middle  or  working  classes. 
These  differences  make  it  essential    that   prayerful 


16  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

wisdom  should  guide  each  elder,  or  at  least  each 
church-session,  to  decide  as  to  what  plans  of  useful- 
ness are  suitable  in  each  case.  It  is  "  as  we  have 
opportunity"  that  we  are  "to  do  good  unto  all 
men,"  Let  us  set  our  ingenuity  to  work,  that  we 
may  be  able  in  the  best  sense  to  be  all  things  to  all 
men,  that  we  may  save  some.  In  any  way,  and 
every  way  consistent  with  Scripture  and  good  sense, 
let  us  aim  at  this  great  end. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

THE    ELDER   IN    HIS    DISTRICT. 

The  size  of  districts  is  an  important  matter.  If 
a  district  be  too  small,  the  elder  is  apt  to  under- 
estimate the  importance  of  his  work ;  if  too  large, 
he  is  apt  to  think  it  cannot  possibly  be  overtaken, 
and  thus  to  do  less  than  he  might  do.  In  the  allot- 
ment of  districts  care  should  be  taken  by  the  session 
that  the  residence  and  qualifications  of  each  elder 
are  suitable  to  the  district  assigned  to  him;  the 
right  man  should  be  put  in  the  right  place. 

In  large  congregations,  besides  the  local  district 
ciders,  some  of  the  brethren  who  have  suitable 
qualifications  might  be  appointed  to  duties  instead 
of  dist7*icts,  such  as  the  superintendence  of  the 
congregational  Sabbath-school  or  of  the  district 
mission,  the  oversight  of  servants  (a  vprv  migratory 


I  UK    ELDER    IN    HIS    DE8TRIC1  17 

class),  the  care  of  widows  or  orphans,  of  students 
or  young  men  coming  from  the  country. 

Too  much  care  cannot  be  taken  that  additions  to 
the  congregation  at  each  communion  and  at  other 
times  be  regularly  intimated  to  the  district  elders, 
and  also  that  elders  should  intimate  the  removal  of 
members  from  one  district  of  the  congregation  to 
another.  We  believe  that  a  considerable  loss  in 
funds  is  sustained  by  the  neglect  of  this,  and,  what 
is  much  more  serious,  that  many  persons  and 
families  have  been  allowed  thus  to  drift  away  from 
church  connection  altogether.  It  is  best,  at  least 
in  large  congregations,  that  all  intimations  of 
removal  from  one  district  to  another  be  made  to 
the  session-clerk,  and  by  him  transmitted  to  the 
elder  of  the  new  district,  as  well  as  to  the  minister. 

In  addition  to  the  communicants'  roll,  kept 
alphabetically,  it  is  well  that  the  session-clerk  keep 
a  list  of  members  arranged  in  districts.  From 
this  the  elders  can  at  any  time  correct  their  district 
lists.  In  some  congregations  a  list  of  the  mem- 
bers and  adherents  in  each  district  is  printed 
annually  for  the  use  of  the  office-bearers  and 
collectors. 

An  elder's  district-roll  should  contain  the  names 
of  all  the  members  of  the  families,  not  only  of 
those  who  are  communicants,  but  of  all  the  chil- 
dren. It  should  show  who  have  communicated  at 
each  sacramental  season,  and  the  dates  of  his  vis- 
its to  each  family.  Various  elders'  visiting-books 
2 


18  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

have  been  prepared,  but  probably  each  elder  will 
do  best  by  making  a  plan  for  himself.  He  should 
avoid  burdening  himself  with  needless  statistics. 
He  will  find  it  useful  to  know  where  his  people  sit 
in  church.  If  possible,  every  elder  should  person- 
ally know  every  member  of  the  congregation,  which 
in  our  smaller  congregations  it  will  not  be  difficult 
for  him  to  do. 

If  the  great  ends  of  our  office  are,  by  God's  bless- 
ing, to  be  attained,  it  is  plain,  in  the  first  place,  that 
the,  elder  must  know  the  people  in  his  district.  He 
must  be  acquainted  with  them  all,  old  and  young, 
their  history,  their  occupations,  their  habits,  their 
ways  of  thinking.  They  and  their  children  should 
be  his  personal  friends,  so  that  they  naturally  turn 
to  him  as  to  one  on  whom  they  can  depend  as  a 
kind  and  sympathizing  friend  and  a  faithful  coun- 
selor. He  must  know  them  as  they  are  at  home, 
at  their  own  fireside.  As  Dr.  Chalmers  said,  "The 
way  into  a  man's  heart  is  in  at  the  door  of  his 
house."  And  he  must  keep  up  this  knowledge  by 
visiting  them  from  time  to  time. 

On  entering  on  his  work  at  first,  and  as  new 
people  come  into  his  district,  an  elder  must  en- 
deavor to  get  into  conversation  with  them  individ- 
ually as  to  the  state  of  their  souls.  Is  the  great 
question  yet  settled?  Have  they  said  yes  or  no  to 
the  message  of  peace  on  earth  and  goodwill  to 
men?     Elders  often  feel  it  difficult  to  get  into  this 


THE    ELDER    IN    His    DISTRICT.  19 

kind  of  conversation.  It  should  be  done,  of  course, 
privately,  prudently,  tenderly  ;  yet  it  should  be  done 
— not  in  the  spirit  of  "  Stand  by,  for  I  am  holier 
than  thou,"  but  of  one  who  is  greatly  concerned 
about  their  eternal  interests.  Let  us  not  be  content 
with  mere  generalities,  for  our  visits  are  not  those 
of  ceremony  or  merely  of  courtesy ;  we  have  a 
great  business  in   hand — the  great  business. 

Such  conversation,  if  in  the  spirit  of  our  Master, 
will  usually  be  well  received,  and  is  often  much 
blessed.  Those  who  are  God's  children  will  feel 
thankful  that  they  have  found  one  to  whom  they 
can  open  their  hearts;  and  those  who  have  but  a 
name  to  live — their  name  on  the  communion-roll 
only — may  be  led  to  fall  in  with  God's  way  of  sav- 
ing sinners.  Many  even  in  this  Christian  land  live 
twenty,  thirty  or  forty  years  before  they  meet  with 
any  one  who  speaks  to  them  directly  and  personally 
about  their  soul's  salvation.  How  backward  and 
shy,  alas !  are  we  all  to  do  this !  To  speak  thus 
with  good  results  our  words  must  be  accompanied 
with  prayer  and  a  consistent  life.  May  the  Lord 
baptize  us  elders  with  such  a  spirit  of  love  and 
power  that  we  shall  be  able  to  speak  to  every  one 
of  our  people  about  their  soul's  salvation,  so  that 
none  shall  ever  be  able  to  say,  "  He  visited  me 
often,  but  he  never  spoke  plainly  to  me  about  the 
state  of  my  soul."  Alas !  is  there  any  of  us  who 
can  say  in  this  matter,  "  I  am  pure  from  the  blood 
of  all  men"? 


20  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

Don't  let  us  take  too  much  for  granted.  So 
strange  to  the  natural  heart  is  the  idea  of  salvation 
by  another's  righteousness  that  we  believe  no  one 
really  understands  it,  even  intellectually,  till  taught 
by  the  Spirit.  Ignorant  of  God's  righteousness,  of 
the  King's  highway,  we  would  fain  go  to  heaven 
by  a  road  that  was  shut  up  more  than  five  thou- 
sand years  ago.  An  old  Moderate  minister  used  in 
preaching  to  define  faith  as  "  a  belief  in  the  being 
and  attributes  of  God ;  and  if  any  man,"  said  he, 
"says  it  is  more,  don't  believe  him,  for  that  would 
just  mean  the  getting  of  another  to  do  what  every 
man  should  do  for  himself."  This  was  natural 
religion,  the  religion  of  the  natural  heart.  An  old 
woman  who  was  born  again  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
two  once  told  me  that  though  she  had  sat  for  sixty 
years  under  most  faithful  ministers,  her  mind  never 
really  understood  God's  way  of  saving  sinners  till 
the  Spirit  taught  het  "  heaven's  easy,  artless,  unen- 
cumbered plan  " — "  Believe  and  live." 

When  Dr.  M'Donald  of  Ferrintosh,  the  apostle 
of  the  North,  was  minister  of  the  Gaelic  church  in 
Edinburgh  he  used  to  frequent  a  bookseller's  shop 
in  the  South  Bridge.  To  one  of  the  lads  in  the 
shop  he  used  sometimes  to  drop  a  kind  and  gracious 
word  about  the  great  salvation.  That  lad  lived  to 
be  an  old  man,  and  has  often  told  me  that  he  looked 
on  Dr.  M'Donald  as  his  spiritual  father.  But  the 
lesson  was  blessed  in  more  ways  than  one.  The 
disciple  also  learned  to  give  a  word  in  season  to 


ORDINARY    VISITATION.  21 

others.  A  youth  was  one  day  showing  him  a  pic- 
ture of  a  lonely  cottage  on  a  moor,  and  said,  "  How 
can  any  one  live  there?''  The  reply  was  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  life.  It  was  this  :  "  John,  we  can 
live  anywhere  if  we  have  Christ  in  us  and  Christ 
with  us." 

Many  other  instances  could  be  given  of  a  blessing 
attending  personal  dealing  with  individuals  about 
"the  great  concern." 


CHAPTER   V. 

ORDINARY    VISITATION    BY   THE   ELDER. 

The  frequency  of  an  elder's  ordinary  visitation 
must  depend  on  the  nature  of  the  district,  the  time 
at  his  disposal  and  the  mode  of  his  visitation.  Some 
visit  throughout  their  districts  every  three  months, 
but  perhaps  in  most  cases  a  half-yearly  visit  may  be 
found  sufficient.  Be  it  more  or  less  frequent,  how- 
ever, every  elder  should  have  a  plan,  and  keep  to 
it.  The  day  and  hour  selected  should,  of  course,  be 
convenient  for  the  people,  when  domestic  arrange- 
ments will  not  be  disturbed  and  the  household  are 
likely  to  be  all  at  home.  Some  elders  send  previous 
intimation  of  their  intention  to  visit,  but  the  visit 
will  be  more  easy  and  natural  both  to  elder  and 
people  when  paid  without  previous  notice. 

An  elder  should  visit  all  the  people,  rich  as  well 
as  poor.     He  is  apt  to  visit  most  frequently  where 


22  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

he  is  most  warmly  welcomed,  but   these  are  not 

always  the  families  where  he  may  be  most  useful. 
Neither  should  he  visit  chiefly  the  poorer  members. 
The  richer  people  are  apt  to  be  neglected  by  the 
elder.  There  are  many  people  well-off,  as  this 
world  goes,  who  are  very  lonely,  much  needing 
sympathy  and  Christian  kindness,  to  whom  a  cheer- 
ful visitor  can  carry  sunshine  and  blessing.  And  a 
lonely  life  has  its  own  evils  and  temptations,  re- 
quiring counsel  and  direction.  A  Christian  lady 
once  remarked  to  me  long  ago,  "  If  I  were  a  poor 
body  I  would  often  get  a  visit  from  my  elder,  but 
if  all  were  known  I  need  it  as  much  as  any  one." 
Visits  to  the  better  class  are  most  useful  to  the  elder 
himself.  Visiting  only  the  poorer  is  easier,  but  not 
more  useful. 

While  endeavoring  to  keep  to  a  plan  of  full  and 
regular  visitation  an  elder  must  not  think  that  a 
short  visit  occasionally  is  of  no  use.  This  would 
be  a  great  mistake.  If  we  are  intimate  with  our 
people  we  can  often  do  much  good  by  a  kindly  look- 
in,  even  though  we  scarcely  sit  down  in  the  house. 
Let  us  never  seem  when  visiting  as  if  we  grudged 
every  moment,  as  if  we  were  fidgeting  to  get  away 
— a  habit  both  rude  and  injurious. 

When  we  come  into  a  house  we  should  seek  to 
bring  some  of  heaven's  own  sunshine  into  it.  The 
children  must  not  run  away  and  hide  themselves, 
but  be  the  first  to  welcome  us ;  for,  like  their  fathers 
and  mothers,  they  should  be  all  our  personal  friends. 


ORDINARY    VIM1A1IOX.  23 

Our  conversation  when  visiting  should  be  suitable 
to  our  office  and  our  object.  It  cannot  be  too  genial 
and  lively,  provided  it  be  as  beeometh  the  gospel 
of  Christ.  "The  talk  of  the  lips  tendeth  only  to 
penury,"  "  Let  your  speech  be  always  with  grace, 
seasoned  with  salt,"  "Be  kindly-affectioned  one  to 
another,  with  brotherly  love/'  are  some  of  the  texts 
which  may  guide  us  as  to  our  conversation.  It 
should  be  profitable,  yet  pleasant,  lively  and  inte- 
resting— grace  seasoned  with  salt.  We  should 
avoid  stiffness  and  formality,  still  more  moroseness 
or  affected  solemnity,  for  we  must  get  at  our  peo- 
ple's hearts  if  we  are  to  do  them  any  good. 

Cheerfulness  beeometh  saints,  and  we  would  be 
more  cheerful  if  we  walked  all  the  day  in  the  light 
of  His  countenance.  We  would  thus  present,  es- 
pecially to  young  people,  truth  with  a  winsome  face. 
A  good  woman  who  made  her  living  by  keeping 
lodgers  told  me  that  the  constant  cheerfulness  of 
a  Christian  young  man  who  was  a  lodger  in  her 
house  was  the  first  means  of  awakening  her.  She 
saw  that  there  was  a  fountain  of  joy  in  his  heart  to 
which  she  was  a  stranger.  Did  you  ever  observe 
the  power  of  a  pleasant,  genial,  or  even  humorous, 
remark  in  opening  the  fissures  of  the  human  heart 
so  as  to  let  you  drop  in  some  seed  of  divine  truth  ? 
Avoiding  foolish  talking  and  jesting,  which  are 
never  convenient,  a  vein  of  humor  is  a  great  gift 
for  Christ  if  ballasted  with  discretion  and  humility. 
Mr.  Spurgeon  is  an  example  of  this,  as  others  have 


24  THE    ELDER   AND   HIS   WORK. 

been.  A  healthy  mind  and  soul  are  seldom  with- 
out a  little  of  it.  A  friend  of  mine  used  often  in 
her  early  years  to  meet  with  Wilberforce.  Few 
men  were  ever  more  useful  to  individuals  j  and  it 
was  by  his  "  parlor  preaching/'  which  consisted,  as 
my  friend  told  me,  in  his  geniality  and  humor 
being  sanctified  to  the  highest  service.  In  the 
midst  of  his  public  work  he  never  avoided  mixing 
freely  with  the  society  around  him,  knowing  that 
there  he  had  a  large  sphere  of  usefulness.  The  tend- 
ency in  some  men  to  keep  themselves  aloof  from 
pleasant  social  intercourse  with  the  circle  of  kindred 
and  friendship  with  which  God  has  surrounded  them, 
on  the  plea  that  they  have  no  time  for  it,  has  no 
sanction  from  our  Lord's  precept  and  example. 
They  should  have  time  for  it,  for  it  is  by  contact 
that  the  leaven  spreads  till  the  whole  is  leavened. 

The  matter  of  our  intercourse  is  fully  as  import- 
ant as  the  manner  of  it.  While  we  may  talk  about 
congregational  matters,  let  us  beware  of  congrega- 
tional gossip.  "  Is  it  really  true  that  Mr.  A.  is  going 
to  be  married  to  Miss  B.  ?"  is  one  of  the  kind  of 
questions  that  should  neither  be  asked  nor  answered. 
AVe  should  avoid,  if  possible,  all  talk  about  persons, 
especially  neighbors,  unless  we  can  speak  well  of 
them  and  to  edification.  Let  the  elder  forestall  all 
this  kind  of  thing  by  reference  to  the  last  Sabbath 
sermons,  the  work  of  the  congregation,  or  some 
news  in  the  last  Record  or  other  religious  period- 
icals.    Even  in  the  events  of   the  dav  and  their 


ORDINARY    VISITATION.  25 

lessons  we  may,  in  these  times  of  daily  newspapers 
and  telegraphs,  find  ample  scope  for  most  profitable 
conversation.  Let  us  throw  out  hints  that  may  be 
useful,  such  as  the  importance  of  reading  regularly 
through  the  sixty-six  books  of  the  Bible,  and  not 
trusting  to  little  "text-books." 

Wre  have  already  referred  to  the  duty  of  every 
faithful  elder  dealing  personally  with  each  member 
of  a  family.  This  must  be  done  privately,  yet  even 
when  the  children  are  present  there  will  be  many 
opportunities  for  earnest  religious  conversation. 
Young  anxious  inquirers  may  be  there,  secretly 
wishing  you  to  speak  of  what  is  near  their  hearts, 
though,  with  the  reticence  of  many  people  on 
these  subjects,  they  may  never  have  opened  their 
minds  even  to  their  father  or  mother.  I  remember 
once  getting  a  quiet  reproof  on  this  point  from  a 
Christian  mother.  After  some  too  desultory  con- 
versation I  proposed  to  read  a  passage  of  Scripture. 
"  Oh,"  said  she,  "  I  was  wondering  if  you  were 
going  away  without  that,  for  I  have  lately  felt 
very  anxious  about  the  souls  of  my  children." 
How  often  do  our  coldness  and  shyness  as  to  the 
one  thing  needful  prevent  our  usefulness! 

Our  visits  should  be  sanctified  by  the  word  of 
God  and  prayer,  though  it  should  not  be  considered 
indispensable  that  at  every  visit  we  should  conduct 
a  formal  exercise.  We  may  read  a  passage,  and  if 
we  can  add  a  few  remarks  on  it,  so  much  the  better, 
but  they  should  be  homely,  practical,  interesting  and 


26  THE    ELDER   AND    HIS    WORK. 

brief.  It  may  be  enough  at  times  merely  to  quote 
a  text.  In  prayer  we  should  avoid  a  long  preface 
or  peroration,  or  other  formalities.  The  circum- 
stances of  the  family  and  of  each  member  of  it, 
present  or  absent,  should  be  specially  remembered. 

In  visiting  we  may  find  some  strangers  present, 
people  staying  with  the  family  or  neighbors  who 
have  looked  in.  Let  us  try  to  have  a  word  for 
them.  They  may  have  been  thrown  in  our  way 
for  that  very  purpose.  A  friend  once  told  me  of 
a  neighbor  who  came  into  a  house  during  his  visit, 
and  was  arrested  by  a  text  that  was  read.  Such 
simple  means  does  the  Lord  often  use  to  find  his 
lost  pieces  of  silver. 

For  several  years  I  have  adopted  a  plan  in  which 
I  have  had  much  comfort  and  satisfaction.  I  know 
that  with  some  of  my  brethren  it  would  not  be 
practicable,  though  others  might  adopt  it.  The  plan 
I  refer  to  is,  spending  an  hour  every  Sabbath  even- 
ing with  one  family  in  my  district.  Having  ascer- 
tained at  church  that  it  will  be  convenient  for  the 
family  to  receive  me  that  evening,  after  my  own 
family  exercise  I  go  to  the  house  at  eight  o'clock. 
If  there  are  children  there,  the  first  thing  I  do  is  to 
catechise  them  a  little,  which  they  and  the  parents 
seem  to  enter  into  very  heartily.  Besides  the  in- 
struction conveyed  to  the  children,  I  find  thus  an 
opportunity  of  giving  hints  to  the  parents  as  to  the 
matter  and  manner  of  family  religious  instruction. 
This  being  over,  I  have  a  short  exercise  for  all,  like 


OKDINARY    VISITATION.  27 

family  worship,  praise,  reading  a  short  passage  of 
Scripture,  with  a  few  remarks  for  old  and  young, 
and  prayer,  especially  remembering  any  of  the 
family  who  have  left  home.  The  children  then 
leaving  us,  there  is  a  little  time  for  conversation 
with  the  father  and  mother. 

Never  have  I  come  home  from  one  of  these 
Sabbath-evening  visits  without  feeling  thankful 
that  I  had  been  led  to  begin  this  plan,  and  that 
it  was  lawful  thus  to  do  good  on  the  Sabbath  day. 
It  is  the  best  time  for  the  elder,  for  the  rest  and 
privileges  of  the  Sabbath  have  put  his  heart  in 
tune  for  such  employment.  And  it  is  best  for  the 
family  ;  they  are  all  at  home,  disengaged,  expect- 
ing us  and  not  likely  to  be  disturbed.  How  good 
and  pleasant  it  is  thus  to  go  in  upon  a  family  at 
their  quiet  fireside  on  a  Sabbath  evening,  the  family 
Bible  on  the  table  ready  for  us,  the  whole  remind- 
ing us  of  that  family  religion  which  once  made 
Scotland  great  and  good,  and  which,  if  continued 
and  renewed,  would  make  her  still  a  joy  and 
blessing  to  the  whole  earth  !  The  family — how 
much  of  a  nation's  happiness  and  prosperity  depends 
on  that  institution  as  a  nursery,  a  school,  a  society, 
a  sanctuary,  a  little  church,  and  an  emblem  of  the 
great  family — "the  whole  family,"  part  of  which  is 
in  heaven,  and  part  still  on  earth ! 

There  are  other  matters  we  should  keep  in 
view  in  our  visitation  to  families  which  will  be 
referred  to  afterward. 


28  THE    ELDER   AND    HIS    WORK. 

CHAPTER    VI. 

VISITATION   OF    THE   SICK. 

In  every  district  there  are  usually  some  invalids 
from  age,  infirmity  or  protracted  disease,  and  a 
sick-bed  life  is  not  necessarily  good  for  the  soul. 
Deprived  of  the  privileges  of  God's  house,  and 
often  very  lonely,  they  require  more  frequent  visits 
than  ordinary  families,  and  have  a  special  claim  on 
an  elder's  time  and  sympathy.  Often  weak  and 
sensitive,  they  are  very  susceptible  of  kindness,  and 
grateful  for  it.  Some  may  require  systematic  in- 
struction in  the  truth;  and  even  where  this  is  not 
necessary  the  elder  will  find  it  add  greater  useful- 
ness and  interest  to  his  successive  visits  to  speak  a 
little  on  some  one  important  truth  ;  and  he  will 
not  find  this  without  fruit.  I  believe  sick-bed  con- 
versions are  numerous,  and  even  death-bed  con- 
versions (so  far  as  man  can  judge)  sometimes  occur. 
Apart  from  all  such  cases,  every  elder  knows  that 
on  the  bed  of  sickness  the  Lord  ripens  his  people 
for  glory,  and  to  the  elder  himself  it  is  often  a 
scene  of  instruction  and  revival.  Richard  Cecil 
said  that  some  of  the  best  lessons  he  had  ever 
learned  were  got  at  the  sick-bed  of  believers ;  and 
many  elders  can  say  the  same. 

Besides  giving  them  the  varied  comfort  and 
direction  so  abundant  in  the  word  of  life,  he  may 
lend  them  suitable  books.     He  should  also  enlist 


VISITATION    OF   THE   SICK.  ^(.» 

the  help  of  some  Christian  neighbor,  who,  if  kind, 
cheerful  and  experienced  in  divine  things,  may  be 
more  useful  in  some  respects  than  he  could  be. 
Such,  at  least,  has  been  my  own  experience.  Nerv- 
ous weakness  tells  upon  the  soul,  and  visits  to 
invalids  by  children,  for  example,  who  can  sing  to 
the  weary  sufferers  some  of  the  sweet  songs  of 
Zion,  may  do  more  good,  even  to  the  body,  than 
medicines  from  the  druggist's  shop. 

An  elder  told  me  lately  that  he  usually  spent 
some  hours  of  every  New  Year's  Day  in  visiting 
sick  friends,  taking  with  him  little  gifts,  which, 
with  kind  words,  would  cheer  and  revive  many  to 
whom  a  holiday  brings  no  gladness  of  heart.  This 
is  a  good  hint  as  to  how  to  make  a  holiday  a  happy 
day  even  to  ourselves,  for  "  it  is  more  blessed  to 
give  than  to  receive." 

In  visiting  sick  people  or  invalids  we  should 
avoid  noise  or  abruptness.  A  low,  quiet  voice  is 
usually  soothing  and  pleasant  to  them,  especially 
if  they  are  weak  and  nervous.  Don't  let  us  strain 
them  with  anything  requiring  long  or  continuous 
attention,  and  let  our  change  from  one  subject  to 
another  be  natural  and  easy.  Such  visits  should 
not  be  of  long  duration,  and  it  is  best  for  us  to 
leave  immediately  after  engaging  in  prayer,  giving 
them  perhaps  one  text  to  keep  near  their  heart. 

It  is  a  good  plan  occasionally  to  have  a  short 
service  in  the  sick-room  of  an  invalid,  to  which  a 


30  THE    ELDER   AND    HIS    WORK. 

few  neighbors  may  be  invited.  Invalids  seem  to 
enjoy  this  very  much ;  it  reminds  them  of  the  joy 
they  once  had  in  going  up  to  the  house  of  God  ; 
and  it  is  social  worship  when  two  or  three  are  thus 
gathered  together  in  the  name  of  Jesus. 

Cases  of  urgent  and  serious  illness  require,  of 
course,  an  elder's  special  attention.  "Is  any  sick 
among  you?  let  him  call  for  the  elders  of  the 
church."  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  sufferer 
or  his  family  does  not  always  comply  with  this  in- 
junction, under  the  mistaken  impression  that  the 
elder  ought  to  hear  of  them,  though  such  a  thing 
is  not  expected  of  the  doctor  of  a  family.  But 
when  the  elder  does  hear  of  such  illness,  he  should 
visit  at  once.  A  day's,  or  even  an  hour's,  unneces- 
sary delay  may  cause  him  a  long  regret.  He  should 
see  that  the  minister  also  is  made  aware  of  the  case 
as  soon  as  possible. 

To  visit  the  fatherless  and  widows  in  their  afflic- 
tion is  our  privilege  and  duty,  and  to  carry  with  us 
such  messages  from  the  word  of  God  as  are  fitted 
to  bind  up  the  broken  heart.  In  cases  of  sudden 
and  severe  affliction  we  may  be  able  to  do  little 
more  than  weep  with  them  that  weep,  giving  the 
afflicted  some  word  from  the  merciful  and  faithful 
High  Priest,  and  perhaps  taking  hold  of  the  suf- 
ferer's hand — an  act  of  sympathy  which  has  often 
a  wonderful  power  to  calm  and  soothe  in  times  of 
deep  distress. 


VISITATION    OF     I  M  E    SICK.  31 

We  know   very   little   about   those   ministering 

spirits  who  are  sent  forth  to  minister  for  them  who 
are  heirs  of  salvation.  But  may  we  not  be  often 
side  by  side  with  them  ?  for  this  is  our  privilege  as 
well  as  theirs.  And  it  is  our  part,  "being  our- 
selves also  in  the  body,"  to  do  what  they  are  not 
privileged  to  do — to  sit  beside  a  dying  believer,  to 
smooth  his  pillow,  to  moisten  his  lips,  to  remind 
him  of  the  rod  and  stall'  that  are  ready  for  his  help 
in  the  dark  valley,  and  to  direct  his  dying  eye  to 
Jesus.  All  this  is  a  precious  service  we  cannot 
render  in   heaven,  but  only  on  earth. 

Have  we  realized  the  honor  and  privilege  given 
ns  by  our  Lord  of  ministering  to  an  heir  of  salva- 
tion? Would  we  like  to  have  shown  kindness  to 
Jesus  himself,  who  for  our  sakes  became  poor? 
Would  we  like  our  roof  to  have  sheltered  him, 
our  fire  to  have  warmed  him,  our  food  to  have  fed 
him?  This  service  of  love  is  still  within  our 
reach,  for  "  inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one 
of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  did  it  unto  me." 

"  Oh  that  the  Lord  would  count  me  meet 
To  wash  his  dear  disciples'  feet ; 
After  my  lowly  Lord  to  go, 
And  wait  upon  his  saints  below; 
Enjoy  the  grace  to  angels  given, 
And  serve  the  royal  heirs  of  heaven  !" 

The  elder  will  seek,  along  with  the  minister,  that 
a  time  of  affliction  may  be  a  time  of  blessing  to  a 


32  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

family.  It  is  not  necessarily  so,  nor  always  so,  for 
trial  is  not  in  itself  sanctifying.  But  at  such  a 
time  the  a*ffections  are  stirred  and  the  mind  opened 
to  hear  what  would  not  have  been  listened  to  at 
another  time.  It  is  often  a  crisis  in  a  family's 
history.  Let  us  seek  wisdom  to  win  souls  at  such 
a  time;  kindness  and  sympathy  from  us  then  will 
never  be  forgotten.  It  is  after  the  excitement  is 
over  that  a  bereavement  is  most  felt.  The  empty 
chair,  the  quiet  home,  remind  the  widow  and  the 
orphan  of  their -loneliness.  Let  the  bereaved  ones 
feel  that  in  this  cold  and  selfish  world  they  have  in 
their  elder  at  least  one  human  friend  left.  We  may 
look  in  upon  them  in  the  evening  occasionally  and 
conduct  the  family  worship,  trying  in  some  measure 
to  fulfill  the  promise,  "  When' my  father  and  mother 
forsake  me,  then  the  Lord  will  take  me  up." 

And  let  us  share  in  family  joys  as  well  as  sor- 
rows. I  like  to  be  invited  to  a  marriage  in  my 
district,  for  it  shows  a  kinship  feeling  toward  me. 
If  we  are  intimate  with  our  people,  we  will  often 
be  asked  for  advice  in  such  matters,  and  we  may 
help  in  steering  them  clear  of  rocks  and  quicksands. 
Let  us  remember  the  words,  "  Only  in  the  Lord" 
Now-a-days  it  seems  as  if  people  must  be  richer 
than  they  needed  to  be  formerly  before  they  set  up 
house.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  this  should  be  so,  for 
marriage  is  honorable  in  all,  and  it  is  not  good  for 
man  to  be  alone,  even  though  the  young  folks  can 
only  afford  to  begin  with  a  "  but  and  a  ben."     Need- 


FAMILY    PRAYER. 

less  expense  in  show  and  furnishing  is  not  confined 
to  the  rich. 

A  babe  in  a  house  is  a  well-spring  of  pleasure, 
and  such  new  gifts  from  the  Lord  should  call  out 
our  joyful  sympathy.  Let  us  remind  our  people 
of  the  solemnity  of  the  vows  they  take  upon 
themselves  at  the  baptism  of  their  children,  and 
of  the  duty  of  paying  these  vows.  We  should 
try  to  deepen  the  impression  felt  at  the  dispensa- 
tion of  the  ordinance.  The  Lord  makes  much  use 
of  family  affliction  in  the  training  of  his  people, 
and  cases  of  little  children  will  often  occur  in  an 
elder's  district  where  the  word  is  fulfilled,  "  Of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 


CHAPTER    VII. 

FAMILY    WORSHIP — THE   YOUNG — INQUIRERS — 
SERVANTS,    ETC 

The  elder  will  desire  to  have  family  worship 
established  in  all  the  households — so  useful  for 
domestic  order,  parental  government  and  family 
religion.  Young  people  should  be  encouraged, 
when  they  settle  in  life,  to  resolve  that  wherever 
they  have  a  house  God  shall  have  an  altar.  He 
may  give  hints  to  those  who  already  have  family 
worship  how  to  make*  it  more  interesting  and  useful 
to  their  young  people,  warning  them  against  tedious- 
ness  and  formality,  and  suggesting  such  plans  as, 

3 


34  THE    ELDER   AND    HIS    WORK. 

for  example,  the  members  of  the  family  reading 
the  verses  in  turn.  And  by  kindly  persuasion  he 
may  have  an  altar  to  God  reared  in  families  that 
have  never  yet  called  upon  his  name.  Extempore 
prayer,  even  though  it  be  very  short,  is  better  than 
a  read  form ;  but  when  the  heads  of  families  feel 
that  they  cannot  even  do  this  forms  may  be  recom- 
mended. The  elder  may  recommend  also  remem- 
bering in  family  prayer  particular  subjects  at  par- 
ticular times ;  such,  for  example,  as  on  Saturday 
morning  ministers  preparing  for  their  Sabbath 
work,  and  the  conversion  of  the  Jews;  on  Sabbath 
morning,  missionaries  in  foreign  lands  and  Sabbath- 
school  teachers  and  children. 

Get  them  to  sing  praise  as  well  as  to  read  the 
word  and  pray.  It  is  sometimes  complained  that 
our  Presbyterianism  is  too  bald ;  don't  let  us  make 
it  unnecessarily  so.  "  Happy  is  the  people  that 
know  the  joyful  sound  ;"  and  it  adds  more  sunshine 
to  family  worship  when  they  can  all  join  in  singing. 
"Wherever  there  is  a  revival  of  religion  there  is  a 
revival  of  praise.  Besides  the  cheerfulness  that 
praise  begets  in  a  family,  it  may  have  a  good 
influence  on  the  neighbors;  the  sound  of  God's 
praise  from  a  dwelling  is  to  them  as  a  flag  for 
Christ.  When  he  gave  Paul  and  Silas  songs  in 
the  night,  "  the  prisoners  heard  them"  Philip 
Henry  said  it  was  a  way  of  exhibiting  godliness, 
like  Rahab's  scarlet  thread,  to  such  as  pass  by 
our  windows. 


RELIGIOUS    EDUCATION   OF   CHILDREN.         35 

Another  important  duty  of  the  elder  is  taking 
an  interest  in  the  education  of  the  children.  If  a 
family  man,  he  may  give  useful  hints  even  as  to 
their  weekly  instruction  ;  the  schools  they  should 
attend,  and  their  being  kept  at  school  as  long  as 
possible;  the  kind  of  books  they  should  read;  the 
choosing  of  good  companions,  etc.  He  should  urge 
on  parents  the  importance  of  making  home  happy 
and  attractive,  so  that,  their  father  and  mother 
being  the  children's  most  intimate  friends,  nothing 
may  be  kept  from  them,  no  bad  habits  formed,  no 
bad  books  read  in  secret.  Parents  must  take  great 
pains  with  their  children  ;  if  they  do  not  take 
trouble  with  them  when  young,  they  will  give 
them  trouble  when  they  are  old. 

In  the  religious  instruction  of  the  children,  how- 
ever, the  elder  will  feel  it  his  duty  to  take  a  special 
interest.  At  baptism  not  only  did  the  parents  come 
under  responsibility,  but  the  Church  did  so  also. 
These  baptized  children  are  the  children  of  the 
Church,  and  as  members  of  the  visible  Church 
they  must  be  taught.  It  was  the  command  of  our 
Lord  that  the  lambs  should  be  fed  as  well  as  the 
sheep.  This  has  been  too  lightly  thought  of,  and 
a  handle  has  thus  been  given  to  opponents  of  in- 
fant baptism.  By  such  means  as  the  inculcating 
of  parental  instruction,  the  institution  of  classes  for 
the  children  and  young  people  of  each  congrega- 
tion, the  Church  of  Christ  must  seek  to  do  the 
duty  which  she  undertook  when  she  received  these 


36  THE    ELDER    AND   HIS    WORK. 

little  ones  into  the  fold  of  the  visible  Church.  She 
is  not  at  liberty  to  make  over  her  duty  into  the 
hands  of  parents,  any  more  than  parents  are  to 
throw  over  their  responsibility  on  the   Church. 

The  elder  will  see  that  the  children  of  his  district 
are  getting  portions  of  the  word  of  God  and  the 
truths  of  the  Shorter  Catechism  into  their  mind 
and  heart,  and  that  they,  as  well  as  their  parents, 
are  regularly  at  church  and  understand  the  sermons. 
He  should  inquire  as  to  their  being  at  the  congre- 
gational Sabbath-school,  which  will  depend  much 
for  its  attendance  upon  what  the  minister  and  elders 
say  about  it;  and  it  would  be  well,  therefore,  for 
him  to  visit  it.  Little  books  and  tracts  will  be 
gladly  received  by  the  little  ones,  and  he  may  give 
them  out  texts,  psalms  or  hymns  to  be  repeated  to 
him  at  his  next  visit.  If  there  are  many  children 
in  the  district,  he  may  have  a  meeting  of  them  at 
his  own  house  occasionally. 

The  young  men  and  women  in  his  district  must 
be  cared  for  too,  both  those  living  in  families  and 
in  lodgings.  An  elder's  influence  over  them  as  to 
their  eternal  interests,  their  choice  of  companions, 
the  formation  of  habits  and  acquaintanceships,  may 
be  of  lasting  benefit.  To  the  daughters  leaving 
home  as  domestic  servants,  and  to  sons  going  forth 
among  strangers,  he  should  give  words  of  warning 
and  encouragement,  with  perhaps  some  little  book 
suitable  to  their  circumstances. 

There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  souls — a  time  of 


FOR   THE    YOUNG.  37 

impression.  This  is  proved  by  the  great  number 
of  conversions  which  take  place  between  the  ages 
of  sixteen  and  twenty.  Let  the  elder  warn  such 
young  people  against  their  peculiar  temptations, 
for  "Satan  hath  a  friend  at  court  in  the  heart  of 
youth,"  and  against  the  seductive  influences  of 
popery  and  ritualism,  which  spread  their  nets  of 
music  and  sentimentality,  trying  to  turn  religion 
into  one  of  the  fine  arts.  Childish  they  may  be, 
but  childish  things  are  often  powerful  things. 
Above  all,  let  him,  in  dependence  on  the  Spirit's 
grace,  seek  to  win  the  young  to  Jesus,  that  they 
may  fix  their  choice  for  ever  on  him,  for  then  only 
they  are  safe.  "  May  you  be  kept  in  Jesus  !"  said 
a  friend  of  ours  to  a  young  convert. — u  Yes,"  he 
replied  ;  "  Jesus  would  not  have  taken  me  if  he 
had  not  been  able  to  keep  me." 

A  word  from  a  minister  has  much  weight  with 
all  classes,  for  happily  with  us  there  is  great  re- 
spect for  the  office  as  well  as  for  the  individual. 
But  a  fitting  word  of  counsel  from  an  elder,  kindly 
spoken,  when  felt  to  be  from  the  heart,  will  touch 
a  conscience  that  even  a  sermon  cannot  reach. 
While  his  office  gives  a  weight  to  his  words,  yet 
Ids  being  on  the  same  level  somehow  helps  to  send 
his  words  in  between  the  joints  of  the  harness  even 
more  effectually  than  those  of  the  minister;  and 
this  is  true  especially  in  the  case  of  young  men 
and  women. 

The  promise    is    unto    us   and    to    our  children. 


38        THE  ELDER  AND  HIS  WORK. 

Even  under  the  Old  Testament  there  was  special 
blessing  in  the  covenant  for  them,  and  there  is  no 
less  under  the  fuller,  richer  and  wider  dispensation 
of  the  New.  A  mother  once  told  me  that  the  first 
thing  that  drew  her  heart  to  God  was  the  kindliness 
of  his  covenant  toward  the  children  of  believers. 
No  doubt,  under  both  dispensations  salvation  was 
and  is  of  grace  through  actual  personal  faith  in 
the  case  of  those  who  reach  years  of  understanding. 
Yet  what  precious  encouragement  there  is  for  be- 
lieving parents !  And,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  we  all 
know  that  the  great  proportion  of  additions  to  our 
churches  are  from  the  families  of  Christian  parents. 
We  must  all  have  observed  how  often  the  passage 
from  death  unto  life  with  such  is  almost  impercep- 
tible to  those  around  them  ;  and  they  usually  be- 
come the  steadiest  and  most  intelligent  members  of 
the  Church.  Should  not  Christian  parents  be  more 
encouraged,  not  only  to  hope  and  pray,  but  also 
confidently  to  expect,  that  their  children,  whom 
they  have  dedicated  to  the  Lord  in  baptism,  shall 
all  become  his  by  converting  grace? 

Christian  parents  in  these  days  may  well  be 
anxious  about  their  children.  The  spirit  of  the 
age  leads  to  a  peculiar  and  precocious  development 
of  young  people,  and  there  is  an  earlier  pressure 
from  the  world's  tide  of  pleasure  than  formerly — 
the  lust  of  the  flesh,  the  lust  of  the  eve  and  the 
pride  of  life.  Passing  along  the  street  one  day,  I 
reproved  a  boy  on  seeing  his  unkindness  to  a  child. 


FOR   THE    YOUNG.  39 

"  Who  are  you  f"  said  he ;  "  are  you  a  policeman  f" 
There  is  now  more  talk  about  rights  than  about 
duties,  and  parents  too  often  obey  their  children, 
instead  of  children  their  parents.  Of  too  many  it 
may  be  said  that  they  are  "disobedient  to  parents," 
"heady  and  high- minded/'  Elders  must  remind 
parents  as  well  as  children  that  the  Fifth  Com- 
mandment has  happily  not  been  repealed;  that 
parents  must  remember  Eli,  and  restrain  as  well  as 
advise,  while  they  avoid  scolding  and  provoking 
their  children  to  wrath  ;  that  they  must  seek,  espe- 
cially by  making  home  the  happiest  place  to  their 
children,  to  counterwork  the  enemy  of  souls,  pray- 
ing earnestly  at  the  same  time  that  they  may  be  led 
to  taste  the  joys  of  God's  salvation,  which  will  give 
them  higher  pleasures  than  theatres  or  ball-rooms, 
and  thus  escape  the  corruption  that  is  in  the  world 
through  lust. 

In  the  former  days  there  was  usually  a  certain 
severity  on  the  part  of  fathers  to  their  sons,  who 
were  led  to  fear  and  honor  fully  more  than  to  love 
their  parents,  while  in  our  days  there  is  often  too 
much  indulgence  and  want  of  respect.  Yet  fathers 
should  be  specially  advised  to  keep  hold  of  their 
sons'  affections  by  making  them,  from  their  earliest 
years,  their  most  intimate  friends  and  companions. 
"The  bands  of  love  are  the  cords  of  a  man."  A 
hard,  iron  rule  is  both  nnscriptural  and  unwise,  and 
we  see  many  examples  of  children  being  ruined  by 
it  even  in  Christian  families. 


40  THE   ELDER   AND   HIS   WORK. 

Elders  are  often  asked  for  hints  as  to  making  the 
Sabbath  interesting  and  profitable  to  the  young  in 
a  family.  It  is  a  difficult  subject,  as  all  parents 
know,  for  our  children  will  never  love  the  Sabbath 
as  the  "  pearl  of  days  "  and  as  a  spiritual  privilege 
till  they  love  the  Lord  of  the  Sabbath.  Yet  let  not 
our  children  have  cause  to  think  it  a  gloomy  day, 
for  gloominess  is  not  godliness,  and  sunshine  is  not 
sin.  Let  us  surround  the  Sabbath  in  their  minds 
with  as  many  pleasant  associations  as  possible.  Let 
the  restlessness  of  childhood  find  vent  in  variety 
of  occupation,  their  curiosity  in  listening  to  Bible 
stories,  their  vivacity  in  the  singing  of  hymns. 
It  is  well  worth  while  for  parents  to  give  time  and 
thought  to  this. 

The  habits  and  order  of  a  Christian  family  will 
form  a  fence  around  the  members  of  it  when  they 
go  into  the  world.  Let  them  be  specially  warned 
to  shun  bad  companions  and  to  avoid  temptations 
as  well  as  overcome  them.  Joseph  "fled,  and  got 
him  out."  A  young  man,  when  departing  for  Lon- 
don, was  advised  never  to  go  to  a  theatre,  never  to 
go  to  races,  never  to  travel  on  the  Sabbath,  never 
to  play  at  cards.  He  strictly  adhered  to  the  advice, 
and  after  he  became  a  new  man  he  was  often  thank- 
ful for  it.  These  four  resolutions  formed  a  valuable 
fence  against  temptation,  and  trained  him  to  say  no 
when  sinners  enticed  him. 

Our  people  should  all  know  our  dwelling,  and  feel 


FOB   INQUIRERS.  41 

that  they  are  always  welcome  to  come  there  when 
they  wish  to  consult  us.  We  may  have  visits  from 
inquirers,  especially  young  men,  whom  we  can  often 
help  very  much.  It  will  be  well  for  them  to  feel 
that  we  can  talk  on  other  subjects  besides  religion 
and  know  other  books  besides  our  Bible.  We  can 
often  be  useful  by  lending  them  books;  too  many 
of  these  lie  on  our  library-shelves  year  after  year 
which  might  be  out  at  interest.  Especially  let  us 
welcome  any  anxious  inquirers  who  may  come  to 
us,  even  though,  as  of  old,  secretly.  In  the  minds 
of  sincere  and  earnest  young  men  there  are  often 
difficulties  about  doctrinal  truths.  If  we  see  in  them 
a  humble  and  teachable  spirit,  let  us  beware  of  treat- 
ing or  denouncing  them  as  heretics,  which  is  very 
likely  to  make  them  such,  and  may  scare  them  away 
from  orthodoxy  for  ever.  The  Church  has  been 
often  a  loser  by  conduct  like  this.  Every  doubt  is 
not  a  skeptical  doubt ;  it  is  often  an  honest  intellec- 
tual difficulty.  It  would  be  well  if  some  men  had 
had  more  difficulties;  they  would  be  more  firmly 
established  than  they  seem  to  be,  and  not  be  so 
easily  moved  away  after  every  will-o'-the-wisp  that 
appears  in  the  religious  horizon.  The  grand  system 
of  our  noble  Confession  of  Faith  is  not  to  be  taken 
on  trust.  It  is  only  by  studying  the  law  and  the 
testimony  that  we  come  to  appreciate  its  truth.  The 
more  careful  and  prayerful  study  we  give  to  it,  the 
more,  we  believe,  will  the  Confession  of  Faith'  be 
found   in   harmony   with   the   word    of  God.     The 


42  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

danger  to  young  men  is  in  hasty,  superficial  study 
and  self-confidence.  We  cannot  take  too  much 
pains  with  a  humble-minded  and  intelligent  youth 
who  comes  to  us  with  difficulties  about  doctrinal 
truths;  and  such  will  often  go  to  an  elder  sooner 
than  to  a  minister.  When  he  does  understand  the 
way  of  God  more  perfectly,  he  will  be  more  useful 
than  a  dozen  men  who  have  adopted  the  Confession 
because  their  ministers  or  their  fathers  did  so,  and 
not  because  it  has  passed  through  the  crucible  of 
their  own  minds  and  souls. 

In  the  instruction  and  examination  of  young  com- 
mimicants  the  elder  may  much  assist  the  minister. 
How  important  is  this  crisis?  It  can  never  occur 
again.  Our  first  communion  !  Do  Ave  not  all  re- 
member it  ?  What  an  opportunity  given  for  earnest 
dealing  with  the  soul !  How  important,  that  the 
profession  be  genuine,  and,  next  in  importance,  that 
those  who  have  set  their  faces  Z  ion  ward  be  guided 
aright,  for  a  minister's  and  an  elder's  oversight  is 
specially  needed  then !  Their  care  does  not  cease 
at  the  conversion  of  one  of  their  people.  The  un- 
steady walk  of  many  believers  may  often  be  traced 
to  their  having  got  a  wrong  set,  as  it  were,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  their  religious  life.  The  necessity  for  solid 
spiritual  food,  much  prayer  and  study  of  the  word 
may  not  have  been  impressed  on  them,  and  hence  a 
liking  for  excitement  and  novelties,  resembling  the 
state  of  appetite  which  can  live  only  on  dainties  and 


YOUNG    COM  MT  MCA  NTS.  43 

sweetmeats.  An  elder  can  also  do  much  in  guiding 
a  young  convert,  especially  as  to  his  daily  life — more 
in  some  respects  than  the  minister,  who  can,  of 
course,  know  little  of  the  conflicts  of  grace  in  the 
workshop  or  the  place  of  business.  The  young  dis- 
ciple must  learn  to  stand  the  tear  and  wear  of  con- 
tact with  men  of  all  kinds,  and  he  needs  grace  to 
enable  him  to  stand  his  ground  and  adorn  the  doe- 
trine  of  God  his  Saviour.  Strange  stories  have  we 
heard  ;  how  many  martyrdoms  are  gone  through  in 
these  days  of  great  liberality!  The  jests  of  scoffers 
are  hard  to  bear, 

"  For  ridicule  will  oftentimes  prevail, 
And  cut  the  knot  when  graver  reasons  fail." 

The  sneer  of  a  silly  maid  overcame  the  strength  of 
him  who  said,  "  If  I  should  die  with  thee,  yet  I 
will  not  deny  thee."  To  live  for  Christ  is  to  many 
more  difficult  than  it  would  be  to  die  for  him.  Yet 
those  who  will  live  godly  in  the  world  shall  suffer 
persecution.  Perhaps  companionship  in  one's  duties 
with  a  mere  formalist,  one  who  has  no  heart-relig- 
ion, is  still  more  dangerous  to  a  warm  young  convert. 
As  a  support  against. such  temptations  let  him  think 
how  much  good  he  may  do  by  simply  leading  a  con- 
sistent Christian  life.  A  friend  who  well  knew 
infidels  and  their  mode  of  attack  told  me  that  there 
was  one  argument  an  infidel  could  never  meet — viz. 
the  morality  taught  by  Jesus  Christ.  The  young 
disciple  cannot,  perhaps,  argue  well  with  his  mouth, 


44  THE    ELDER   AND    HIS    WORK. 

but  let  him  by  his  life  manifest  the  spirit  of  Jesus, 
"showing  out  of  a  good  conversation  his  works  with 
meekness  of  wisdom  ;"  let  him  show  that  faith  in 
Jesus  makes  a  man  a  better  servant,  a  more  faithful 
clerk  and  a  kinder  friend. 

At  the  admission  of  young  communicants  it  has 
been  found  in  some  cases  useful  that,  besides  the 
address  by  the  minister,  one  or  two  elders  should 
add  a  few  words,  referring,  perhaps,  to  their  own 
feelings  at  their  first  communion,  and  setting  before 
the  new  members  of  the  church  the  dangers  they 
may  be  exposed  to,  with  a  few  words  of  practical 
direction  and  encouragement.  The  mouth  of  two 
or  three  witnesses  may  be  useful  at  such  a  time. 

"  I  have  growing  hopes  that  every  child  of  mine 
is  a  child  of  God,  and  every  servant  of  mine  is  a 
servant  of  Christ."  So  writes  one  who,  as  the 
head  of  a  large  family,  desired  to  command  his 
children  and  his  household  after  him  to  keep  the 
way  of  the  Lord, 

It  is  the  duty  of  every  master  and  mistress  to 
care  for  the  souls  of  their  servants — to  give  them 
religious  instruction  as  part  of  their  own  family. 
It  is  often  difficult  for  an  elder  to  take  proper 
oversight  of  them.  They  do  not  live  in  their 
own  house,  and  their  time  belongs  to  their  master 
and  mistress.  Many  domestic  servants  change 
their  places  too  often,  never  seeming  to  take  root 
in  any  one  family.     "  Why  do  you  wish  to  leave?" 


FOR  SERVANTS.  45 

is  often  a  question  asked  by  a  mistress  of  a  ser- 
vant who  proposes  to  give  up  lier  place. — "I  have 
been  very  happy  here,  and  you  have  been  very 
kind  to  me;  but  I  just  think  I  have  been  long 
enough  in  one  place,"  is  the  not  unusual  reply. 
Servants  are  a  large  and  important  class,  on  which 
the  comfort  of  households  largely  depends.  Elders 
arc  too  apt  to  take  for  granted  the  difficulty  of 
visiting  them.  We  have  known  many  cases  where 
careful  provision  was  made  by  mistresses  for  the 
elder's  visit  to  their  servants,  while  no  doubt  in 
other  cases  there  is  difficulty  in  getting  access  to 
them.  If  the  elder  is  blessed  with  a  good  and 
prudent  wife,  she  may  assist  him  much  in  this  as 
in  other  departments  of  his  work.  She  may  call 
on  the  servants,  and  invite  them  to  come  to  his 
house  at  a  time  convenient  for  both.  If  there  are 
many  servants  in  his  district,  he  may  have  a  meet- 
ing for  them  all,  either  on  a  week-day  or  Sabbath 
evening,  when  he  can  speak  to  them  as  Paul  told 
Titus  to  do,  cautioning  them  against  temptations, 
exhorting  them  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of  God  their 
Saviour,  and  showing  how  they  may  do  it.  Classes 
for  female  servants  may  do  much  good,  provided 
the  place  of  meeting  is  not  far  distant  from  their 
homes  and  there  is  communication  between  the 
teacher  and  the  mistresses,  so  as  to  ensure  the  ac- 
tual attendance  of  the  servants.  A  very  safe  and 
useful  plan  is  for  a  lady  to  form  a  class  for  the 
servants  in  a  particular  street,  square  or  locality. 


46  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

Christian  servants  may,  like  the  Syrian  maid,  be 
a  blessing  to  their  employers,  to  their  fellow-ser- 
vants and  to  the  children  of  the  family.  Through 
them  salvation  has  often  come  to  a  house.  We 
know  of  at  least  two  eminently  useful  Christians 
in  our  day  who  ascribe  their  first  serious  im- 
pressions to  domestics — one  to  the  early  lessons 
of  his  nurse,  the  other  to  the  words  of  a  laun- 
dry-maid in  the  family. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

SPECIAL   MEANS   OF   DOING   GOOD. 

District  prayer-meetings  *  have  often  been  found 
a  means  of  grace.  It  is  best  to  have  them  weekly ; 
fortnightly  or  monthly  meetings  have  seldom  been 
found  to  thrive  well.  Where  there  is  a  weekly 
congregational  prayer-meeting,  district  ones,  unless 
at  a  distance  from  the  church,  are  not  usually  well 
attended.  They  may  be  for  one  district  alone,  or 
two  districts  may  be  combined,  the  two  elders 
taking  part  in  them,  with  the  help  of  the  deacons 
and  some  of  the  people.  In  some,  reading  of  the 
word  is  accompanied  with  a  short  exposition  ;  in 
others,  along  with  the  reading  of  the  word  there 

*  It  will  be  noted  that  all  through  this  work  the  author  takes 
it  for  granted  that  the  congregation  is  divided  into  districts,  and 
a  special  district  assigned  to  the  special  oversight  of  one  elder. 


DISTBICT   PRAYER-MEETINGS.  47 

is  given  interesting  missionary  intelligence  or  ex- 
tracts fitted  to  be  useful.  Praise,  heartily  sung  in 
suitable  psalms  or  hymns,  is  both  pleasant  and 
profitable.  Cases  of  distress  in  the  district  should 
be  specially  remembered,  the  names  of  the  afflicted 
being  mentioned  as  in  a  family.  The  meetings 
should  rarely  exceed  one  hour  in  length.  As 
regards  the  place,  private  houses  are  found  to  be 
not  so  convenient  as  a  school -room,  the  session- 
house  or  the  hall  which  should  be  attached  to 
every  church.  The  minister  should  be  invited  to 
visit  these  meetings  occasionally.  Where  there 
can  be  no  regular  district  meetings,  the  elder  may 
hold  one  occasionally — before  each  communion,  for 
example.  Some  elders  have  the  gift  of  conducting 
such  meetings  in  an  edifying  and  interesting  way — 
others  have  not;  we  can  only*  use  what  gifts  we 
have.  However  desirable,  therefore,  these  meet- 
ings should  not  in  all  cases  be  considered  as  part 
of  the  duty  lying  on  an  elder  in  the  same  sense  as 
regular  visitation  is. 

If  circumstances  admit  of  it,  an  elder  will  find  it 
pleasant  and  profitable  to  have  occasionally  his  peo- 
ple at  a  tea-meeting  in  his  house.  It  makes  them 
better  acquainted  with  each  other,  and  the  time  may 
be  spent  very  usefully. 

In  a  country  village  of  which  we  know  there  has 
been  a  prayer-meeting  conducted  now  for  more  than 
a  hundred  years.  That  place  has  been  blessed  three 
or  four  times  with  a  revival  of  religion — shall  we 


48        THE  ELDER  AND  HIS  WORK. 

not  say  in  answer  to  these  prayers?  This  interest- 
ing fact  was  also  told  us,  that  when  the  tide  of 
blessing  was  about  to  come  in  the  numbers  began 
unaccountably  to  increase  till  the  place  was  too 
strait  for  them  ;  even  outside  the  door  there  were 
many  earnest  attenders.  The  people  knew  that 
the  tide  was  far  out  when  the  number  fell  to  five 
or  six.  Then  they  began  to  pray  again  for  a  turn- 
ing of  the  tide,  and  a  spring-tide  came.  Alas !  in 
many  of  our  congregations  the  tide  is  far  out,  if 
we  are  to  judge  by  attendance  at  prayer- meetings, 
which  are  a  kind  of  gauge  of  spiritual  life;  yet  let 
those  who  attend  them  continue  to  pray  on.  "We 
would  urge  also  the  importance  of  keeping  open 
such  wells  of  salvation  as  prayer-meetings  and 
weekly  sermons,  even  though  few  may  come  to 
them.  They  are  places  to  which  thirsting  and 
anxious  ones  repair,  and  we  are  not  always  to  judge 
of  their  usefulness  by  the  numbers  that  come. 

In  every  way  let  an  elder  seek  to  stir  up  his  peo- 
ple to  pray — private  prayer  especially,  but  social 
also.  Prayer  is  the  most  practical  and  powerful 
thing  in  the  world,  for  it  moves  the  Hand  that 
moves  the  universe. 

He  should  encourage  as  much  as  possible  the  for- 
mation and  lively  continuance  of  fellowship  meetings. 
These  are  not  so  common  now  as  formerly,  for  re- 
ligion has  got  in  our  times  into  more  public  devel- 
opments— whether  for  more  personal  edification  or 
not  is  doubtful.     Five  or  six  members  of  the  con- 


SPECIAL    WORKS.  I(.' 

gregation,  who  are  neighbors,  may  be  encouraged 
to  meet  together.  There  may  be  meetings  for  men, 
and  others  for  women — the  former  in  the  evening, 
the  latter  in  the  middle  of  the  day — once  a  week,  for 
an  hour  or  even  less.  The  mothers  in  the  district 
might  be  encouraged  to  meet  for  prayer  for  their 
children.  "Then  they  that  feared  the  Lord  spake 
often  one  to  another;  and  the  Lord  hearkened  and 
heard  it."     As  John  Banyan  says — 

"Saints'  fellowship,  if  it  lie  managed  well, 
Will  keep  us  alive,  and  that  in  spite  of  hell." 

Many  years  ago  one  of  my  people,  a  poor  bed-rid 
woman  (an  old  servant  of  Dr.  Andrew  Thomson  of 
St.  George's),  used  to  spend  the  time  of  each  church 
service  in  praying  for  the  Spirit's  blessing  on  the 
word  being  preached  to  our  congregation.  It  was 
a  means  of  grace  to  sit  by  that  bedside.  One  day 
when  I  called  1  learned  that  that  morning  she  had 
been  suddenly  called  up  to  be  with  Jesus.  To  her 
it  was  far  better,  but  as  a  few  devout  men  carried 
her  to  her  lowly  tomb  at  Warriston  they  thought 
she  was  one  who  could  ill  be  spared  ;  she  had  lived 
so  as  to  be  missed. 

Your  district  of  fifteen  or  twenty  families  is  a 
little  world,  or  rather  a  church  in  miniature.  There 
are  all  ages — the  little  children,  the  young  men,  the 
fathers.  And  there  are  all  varieties  of  temper  and 
disposition  and  of  spiritual  state — the  careless, 
those  at  ease   in   Zion,  the  anxious,  the  new-born 

4 


50  THE    ELDEK    AND    HIS    WORK. 

believer,  the  fretful,  the  desponding,  the  lively,  the 
peaceful,  the  rejoicing,  the  steady,  the  excitable, 
those  who  have  left  their  first  love,  and  those  who 
are  pressing  toward  the  mark.  There  are  Peters 
and  Thomases,  Marys  and  Marthas,  Pliables  and 
Stand-fasts,  Little  Faiths  and  Great  Hearts;  and 
among  them  all  there  is  a  constant  change  going  on. 
Your  one  specific  for  all  cases  is,  "Looking  unto 
Jesus."  For  saints  and  sinners  he  is  the  one  thing 
needful.  For  ourselves  and  for  our  people  the  balm 
of  Gilead  and  the  living  Physician  are  our  all-in- 
all.  Looking  to  him,  we  are  lightened,  we  are  hum- 
bled, we  are  sanctified, changed  into  his  image  from 
glory  to  glory,  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all 
understanding,  keeping  our  hearts  and  minds. 

An  elder  must  be  instant  in  season  and  out  of  sea- 
son, watching  for  opportunities  of  doing  good  among 
his  people.  We  have  referred  to  times  of  affliction, 
when  his  visits  will  be  warmly  welcomed.  But  if 
he  is  absent  from  home  at  the  time  he  may  send  a 
letter  to  the  afflicted.  This  suggestion  occurs  to  me 
from  my  having  found  that  some  such  letters  of  a 
former  generation  had  been  carefully  preserved  and 
made  useful  to  children  and  grandchildren  long 
after  writer  and  receiver  had  gone  to  the  better 
country.  Even  though  we  are  not  from  home  we 
may  find  it  useful,  in  peculiar  circumstances,  to 
write  letters  to  some  of  our  people.  They  are  more 
lasting  than  any  words  of  counsel  casually  given. 

The  New  Year,  as  already  remarked,  is  a  time 


USE   OF    BOOKS.  51 

when  we  should  especially  remember  our  people. 
For  the  last  twenty  years  I  have  been  in  the  prac- 
tice of  sending  at  that  time  to  each  member  or 
family  a  little  packet  containing  one  or  two  care- 
fully selected  tracts,  which  I  considered  likely  to 
be  most  profitable  to  the  individual  case.  It  is  a 
very  small  New  Year's  gift,  to  be  sure,  but  it  is  a 
token  of  remembrance,  and  has  been  always  kindly 
received.  Little  books  may  be  substituted  for 
tracts;  and  something  also  may  be  sent  to  the 
children.  At  that  season  there  is  always  a  supply 
of  useful  and  interesting  publications.  The  poorer 
members  should  be  considered  at  that  time,  and  to 
them  our  packet  may  be  accompanied  with  more 
substantial  gifts  if  the  elder  has  it  easily  in  his 
power  to  give  them.  For  the  aged  poor  I  have 
found  a  little  good  tea  by  far  the  most  accept- 
able gift  of  the  kind. 

With  reference  to  books  which  we  may  give  to 
our  people  or  others,  whether  old  or  young,  I  will 
venture  to  offer  a  few  hints.  They  need  not  be 
large  or  expensive,  but  they  must  be  readable.  No 
sermon  can  do  any  good  unless  it  is  heard,  for  faith 
cometh  by  hearing ;  so  books  can  only  do  good  if 
read,  and  to  be  read  they  must  be  readable  and  in- 
teresting, not  dry  or  prosy.  Narratives  and  biog- 
raphies are  usually  the  best  to  give  away,  unless 
where  there  is  such  spiritual  appetite  and  intelli- 
gence as  will  appreciate  and  profit  by  books  of  a 
deeper  kind.     Books  and  tracts  in  very  small  type 


52  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

should  be  avoided;  visibility  is  indispensable.  Nar- 
ratives are  always  to  be  preferred,  and  if  illustrated, 
so  much  the  better  both  for  old  and  young.  Chil- 
dren like  stories  and  pictures,  and  we  are  all  but 
grown-up  children. 

As  a  rule,  we  should  not  give  away  books  that 
have  not  been  read  by  ourselves  or  by  others  on 
whose  judgment  we  can  rely.  If,  however,  I  had 
hastily  to  select  books  or  tracts  for  this  purpose,  I 
would  take  as  tests  of  their  being  interesting  and 
readable  that  they  were  narrative,  illustrated, 
in  good  type,  with  short  paragraphs,  and  with 
many  proper  names.  When  we  give  a  book  to  any 
one  we  should  put  on  it  the  name  of  the  giver  and 
receiver,  adding  a  short  text  written  out.  Lastly, 
and  most  important  of  all,  let  us  follow  every  book 
we  give  with  prayer,  that  the  blessing  of  God  may 
go  with  it. 

When  our  people  leave  us  for  another  part  of  the 
country  or  for  a  distant  place,  we  should  not  be 
satisfied  merely  with  their  taking  with  them  cer- 
tificates of  church-membership,  but  we  should  try, 
for  some  time  at  least,  to  keep  up  a  link  of  con- 
nection with  them  by  an  occasional  letter,  news- 
paper or  book.  We  find  them  value  these  very 
much  when  far  away,  and  not  least  any  printed 
congregational  lists  or  reports.  It  is  a  great  help 
to  a  young  man  in  a  distant  place  to  know  that 
at  least   one  old  friend   is  still  interested  in  him. 


LOOKING   AFTER    5TOUNG    MEN.  53 

When  our  members  or  adherents  remove  to  a  dis- 
tance, let  us  try  to  get  some  one  in  the  place  to 
which  they  have  gone  to  give  them  a  welcome  there. 
If  we  have  no  friend  there,  we  may  recommend 
them  to  the  kindness  of  the  minister  of  the  place, 
or  to  the  young  men's  associations  which  exist  in 
most  of  our  leading  towns.  Letters  of  introduction 
are  good,  but  unfortunately  they  are  not  always 
delivered;  we  should,  in  addition  to  giving  these, 
write  direct,  if  passible,  to  some  one  in  the  place. 
A  youth  in  a  foreign  land  once  explained  how 
he  was  brought  to  the  Saviour  by  saying,  "  My 
Sabbath-school  teacher  at  home  never  forgot  me." 
Let  elders,  as  far  as  they  can,  do  likewise. 

In  large  towns  there  is  a  constant  influx  of  young 
men  from  the  rural  districts  and  smaller  towns. 
Many  of  these  are  the  most  active  and  intelligent 
of  their  class.  I  often  sympathize  with  ministers 
who  have  thus  to  part  with  the  most  promising 
fruits  of  their  ministry  just  when  beginning  to  be 
useful.  These  classes  of  youths  should  be  cared 
for  on  the^ir  arrival.  Our  larger  congregations 
should  make  provision  for  this.  Scarcely  a  winter 
passes  without  hearing  of  sad  cases  where  youths, 
from  the  want  of  some  one  to  care  for  them,  have 
been  sucked  into  the  whirlpool  of  city  dissipation, 
and  have  had  to  be  sent  home  with  empty  purse, 
broken  character  and  ruined  health.  There  are 
many  shipwrecks  at  sea,  but,  alas  !  there  are  many 


54  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

shipwrecks  on  shore  too.  Our  young  men  are  often 
very  friendless  and  lonely,  and  the  change  from 
home  family-life  to  living  in  lodgings  is  depressing 
enough,  and  to  young  men  of  very  social  dispositions 
is  often  dangerous.  Ministers  cannot  be  expected  to 
undertake  this  work.  It  should  be  considered  the 
business  of  one  or  two  elders  in  each  congregation 
to  welcome  any  young  men  who  come  about  the 
church,  introducing  them  to  the  Bible-class,  the 
young  men's  society  and  similar  good  influences, 
besides  inviting  them  occasionally  to  their  own 
houses  if  circumstances  admit.  Cases  often  occur, 
too,  where,  from  want  of  attention  to  regular  and 
sufficient  diet  and  other  indispensables  to  good 
health,  earnest  students  sow  the  seeds  of  premature 
death  or  lifelong  debility.  Elders  and  elders'  wives 
may  take  a  kindly  interest  in  such  cases.  A  few 
words  of  timely  counsel  may  save  a  useful  life. 
Through  their  efforts  the  anxieties  of  many  a  father 
and  mother  would  be  relieved  and  their  prayers 
answered. 

Elders  of  districts  which  contain  many  persons 
in  humble  life  will  find  great  benefit  from  having, 
besides  the  aid  of  the  deacon,  the  help  and  co-opera- 
tion of  a  female  visitor.  Many  ladies  who  could 
not  undertake  ordinary  district-visiting  among  the 
poor  could  discharge  this  duty.  A  woman's  eye 
and  heart  and  her  knowledge  of  details  enable  her 
to  suggest  modes  of  giving  help  which  would  never 
occur  to  a  man.     This  applies  especially  to  cases  of 


AMONG    THE    POOR.  00 

sickness  and  poverty.     A  large  amount  of  labor  is 

expended  on  the  poor  outside  the  Church — often 
on  the  vicious  and  improvident  poor.  We  do  not 
regret  this,  but  the  poor  members  of  our  ehurches 
should  share  more  largely  than  we  think  they  do 
in  that  affectionate  and  long-suffering  persistency 
which  is  shown  by  Christian  women  in  caring  for 
individuals.  Christ's  own  poor  have  been  given 
over  by  him  to  the  care  of  his  Church,  and  in  this 
respect  his  disciples  should  try  to  set  their  feet  in 
the  footprints  of  Him  who  has  left  them  an  en- 
sample.  Many  of  his  poor  have  a  sore  struggle 
against  poverty — as  they  often  themselves  express 
it,  "they  have  a  sair  fecht"  to  get  through — and 
through  much  care  and  anxiety  many  of  them  do 
enter  the  kingdom. 

Cases  occur  of  great  delicacy  and  difficulty,  and 
in  dealing  with  them  the  elder  must  take  care  to 
give  no  occasion  for  his  good  being  evil  spoken  of. 
He  will  find  it  useful  in  dealing  with  women, 
either  old  or  young,  to  have  the  advice  and  help 
of  his  wife  or  some  other  Christian  woman  of  sense 
and  experience. 

Elders  of  the  Church  should  be  men  ready  for 
every  good  work — ready  to  distribute,  willing  to 
communicate.  To  every  cry  for  help,  whether  for 
the  bodies  or  the  souls  of  men,  we  should  instinct- 
ively be  disposed  to  say  yes,  rather  than  no.  It 
will  help  Christ's  cause  in  the  world  if  we  can  lend 


56  THE   ELDER   AND    HIS    WORK. 

a  helping  hand  to  the  many  charities  which  exist 
among  us,  Christ  was  the  real  Founder  of  them 
all.  Their  very  names  remind  us  of  him,  who  was 
the  first  friend  of  the  destitute  sick,  the  orphan,  the 
blind,  the  incurables  and  the  deaf  and  dumb.  Such 
charities  can  be  best  managed  by  those  who  are  in 
sympathy  with  their  Founder. 

While  each  one  cannot  take  an  active  interest 
in  every  good  work — for  concentration  of  personal 
effort  is  necessary — yet  we  can  help,  as  far  as  our 
means  allow,  with  our  subscriptions  as  well  as  our 
sympathy  and  prayers.  AYe  rejoice  to  think  that 
the  practical  management  of  the  various  charities, 
as  any  one  may  see  from  their  reports,  is  largely  in 
the  hands  of  the  elders  of  the  various  churches. 
Let  it  continue  to  be  so,  for  they  will  thus  show  the 
world  that  none  will  feel  or  care  much  for  either  its 
sins  or  sorrows  but  those  who  have  learned  from 
Jesus  to  do  so. 

Elders  should  also  be  ready  to  take  their  share 
in  municipal  and  other  public  work.  Such  duties 
are  often  irksome,  yet  of  immense  usefulness,  and 
the  best  men  in  each  community  should  be  called 
to  them. 

Those  elders  who  have  gifts  for  evangelistic  work 
should  be  willing  to  engage  in  it,  for  people  listen 
with  peculiar  interest  and  attention  to  an  unprofes- 
sional witness  for  Christ.  This  makes  even  a  few 
stammering  words  from  a  layman  sometimes  weighty 


USING   OUR   HOLIDAYS.  57 

and  useful.  I  was  standing  one  evening  beside  my 
old  friend  Robert  Flockhart,  the  good  old  soldier 

who  preached  at  the  west  corner  of  St.  Giles's 
Church,  Edinburgh,  every  night  for  forty  years, 
A  scoffer  came  up  and  listened  for  a  few  moments, 
when  lie  indignantly  exclaimed  to  me,  "  Men  like 
that  do  more  harm  than  ministers,  for  nobody  can 
say  he  is  paid  for  his  preaching."  While  we  do  not 
labor  in  word  or  doctrine,  we  should  be  ready,  ac- 
cording to  our  ability,  to  speak  for  Him  of  whose 
love  we  have  tasted.  Now  that  most  of  our  elders 
have  been  Sabbath-school  teachers,  we  should  have 
a  large  number  of  them  able  and  willing  to  take 
part  in  evangelistic  meetings  either  in  mission-halls 
or  at  open-air  services.  To  be  able  to  give  short 
addresses  and  to  lead  in  singing  praise  is  well  worth 
some  time  spent  in  self-training.  If  our  minis- 
ters had  a  large  staff  of  well-educated  and  earnest 
elders  at  their  disposal,  they  would  be  encouraged 
to  use  churches  and  mission-rooms  much  more  fre- 
quently than  at  present  for  week-day  and  special 
services. 

Holidays  are  now  a  universal  institution  for  old 
as  well  as  young,  and  every  summer  many  city 
elders  spend  a  month  or  six  weeks  in  the  country. 
Let  us  try  to  mala;  these  visits  to  the  country  not 
only  pleasant  and  health-giving,  but  to  some  extent 
useful  and  profitable.  We  have  known  of  a  church 
built  and  a  congregation   gathered  through  the  two 


58  THE   ELDER   AND    HIS    WORK. 

months'  sojourn  of  an  earnest  elder.  We  do  not  ex- 
pect often  to  find  such  a  result  from  a  holiday,  for 
holidays  should  be  holidays  and  not  be  devoted  to 
hard  work,  especially  in  the  case  of  men  who  work 
with  their  brains  all  the  rest  of  the  year.  Fresh 
air,  fresh  scenery  and  quiet  are  what  they  require, 
both  for  their  bodies  and  their  brains. 

Yet  a  Christian  elder  will  try  to  do  good  wherever 
he  goes.  It  will  be  no  trouble  to  him,  for  it  is  his 
life,  his  joy,  to  be  ever  about  his  Father's  business. 
Coming  as  a  stranger  into  a  country  town  or  village, 
there  are  many  little  ways  in  which  he  can  help  on 
the  cause  of  Christ,  and  encourage  those  who  have 
little  of  the  excitement  and  sympathy  which  help 
those  of  lis  who  live  in  large  towns;  for  how  much 
do  we  owe  to  the  impulse  of  others  ! 

He  should,  for  example,  regularly  attend  the 
church  in  the  place,  if  there  is  one,  connected  with 
his  own  denomination.  It  is  discouraging  to  a 
minister  in  the  country  to  find  visitors  whom  he 
reasonably  expects  to  wait  on  his  ministry  wander- 
ing away  to  another.  Besides  regular  Sabbath  at- 
tendance on  the  minister  of  our  own  Church,  let 
our  sympathies  and  influence  be  used  to  strengthen 
his  hands.  Many  a  faithful  minister  is  laboring 
on  in  a  quiet  sphere  from  year  to  year  in  faith,  yet 
under  many  difficulties  and  discouragements.  The 
educated  Christian  people  in  his  congregation,  to 
whom  he  can  speak  his  whole  heart,  may  be  but 
few  in  number,  and  by  sympathy  and  encourage- 


IX   THE  COUNTRY.  59 

meat  we  may  be  able  to  cheer  him  in  his  work  and 

send  him  on  his  way  rejoicing. 

We  say  from  experience  that  any  service  which  an 
elder,  while  in  the  country,  may  he  able  to  render 
will  be  very  cordially  welcomed  ;  such,  for  example, 
as  taking  part  in  the  weekly  prayer-meeting,  assist- 
ing in  the  Sabbath-school,  the  Bible-class  or  the 
teachers'  meeting.  lie  will  often  receive  as  well  as 
give.  He  will  often  get  practical  hints  from  country 
ministers  and  country  congregations  that  never  oc- 
curred to  him  before,  and  which  he  can  make  use 
of  when  he  returns  home.  At  the  same  time,  he 
will  find  that  any  hints  he  can  give  from  his  town 
experience,  either  as  to  the  temporal  or  spiritual 
matters  connected  with  congregational  work,  will 
be  gladly  received,  and  acted  upon  if  suited  to  the 
circumstances  of  the  locality  or  congregation. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  work  we  have  always  felt 
peculiar  pleasure  in.  One  of  these  is  the  visiting  of 
sick  people.  Sometimes  ministers  feel  debarred  by 
a  feeling  of  delicacy  from  visiting  sick  people  con- 
nected with  other  churches  than  their  own.  But 
a  Christian  visitor  may  go  where  he  likes,  and  he  is 
always  welcomed.  Often  a  blessing  follows  a  word 
spoken  in  Christ's  name  when  a  stranger  brings  it. 

When  packing  our  baggage  for  the  country  let  us 
not  forget  a  large  bundle  of  good  tracts — narrative 
ones,  if  possible,  and  if  with  a  woodcut  at  the  begin- 
ning so  much  the  better.  Little  colored  tracts  for 
children  must  also  be  included,  and  a  good  supply 


60_  THE    ELDER   AND    HIS   WORK. 

of  the  pretty  Sabbath-school  papers;  and  let  there  be 
great  plenty  of  these,  for  we  may  have  unexpected- 
ly a  run  upon  our  bank  and  be  left  tractless.  AYe 
happened  one  day  to  be  passing  along  the  road  when 
a  large  country  school  was  dispersing,  and  we  could 
not  supply  the  eager  demand  of  the  youngsters  for 
tracts. 

It  may  happen  that  in  the  place  of  our  temporary 
sojourn  the  different  ministers  and  people  do  not 
work  very  cordially  together.  A  visitor,  if  he  is  a 
man  of  good  sense  and  a  lover  of  all  good  men,  can 
do  much  to  smooth  away  differences.  All  the  more 
that  he  is  a  stranger  is  he  able  to  be  a  mediator  and 
reconciler.  And  he  can  best  do  this,  not  by  probing 
into  old  sores  and  trying  to  settle  old  disagreements, 
but  with  genial  Christian  kindliness  leading  brethren 
who  have  been  for  a  time  estranged  to  engage  to- 
gether in  some  good  work.  It  is  not  so  much  by 
discussing  the  nature  and  duty  of  Christian  union 
that  we  can  do  good  in  such  cases,  as  by  drawing 
out  into  exercise  the  brotherly  love  which,  though 
it  may  lie  deep  down,  certainly  does  exist  in  every 
sanctified  heart. 

"  The  sweetest  surprisals  of  eternity,"  wrote  Dr. 
James  Hamilton,  "will  be  resurrections  of  the  works 
of  time.  When  the  disciple  has  forgotten  the  labor 
of  love  he  will  be  reminded  of  it  in  the  rich  reward. 
To  find  the  marvelous  results  which  have  accrued 
from  feeble  means,  to  find  the  prosperous  fruit  al- 
ready growing  on  the  shores  of  eternity  from  seeds 


CASES   OF    DISCIPLINE.  61 

which  you  scattered  on  the  stream  of  time,  will  aug- 
ment the  exceeding  weight  of  glory." 


CHAPTER    IX. 

CASKS     OF     DISCIPLINE. 

Dealing  with  cases  of  discipline  is  the  most  pain- 
ful— indeed,  the  only  painful — duty  an  elder  lias 
to  discharge.  Offences,  however,  will  come,  and 
melancholy  and  saddening  they  often  are,  for  fleshly 
lusts  still  war  against  the  soul.  Alas!  all  churches 
have  cause  to  lie  low  before  God  on  this  account. 
k>  Bui  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into  sub- 
jection, lest  that  by  any  means  when  I  have  preached 
to  others,  I  myself  may  be  a  castaway;"  "  Where- 
fore, let  him  that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed 
lest  he  fall,"  are  words  of  warning  much  needed  by 
ourselves,  and  that  come  anew  with  a  solemn  em- 
phasis in  cases  coming  before  a  church-session.  For 
the  right  discharge  of  the  duty  of  discipline  the 
elder  requires  the  spirit  both  of  faithfulness  and  of 
tenderness.  These  are  fully  illustrated  in  our  Lord's 
dealings  with  offenders,  which  we  should  often  study. 
I  low  faithful  was  he,  and  yet  how  tender!  Oh  that 
we  could  deal  with  erring  brethren  in  the  spirit  of 
Jesus  Christ ! 

The  first  and  great  end  of  discipline,  as  laid  down 
in  Scripture,  is  the  restoration  and  salvation  of  the 


62  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

offender.  The  second  is  the  maintaining  of  the 
purity  of  the  Church  and  freeing  it  from  scandal. 
The  first  object  must  ever  be  kept  prominent.  With 
all  respect  for  our  forefathers,  it  has  often  occurred 
to  me  that  they  were  too  apt  to  overlook  this.  I 
have  looked  over  a  good  many  old  session  records, 
and  they  suggested  too  much  the  idea  of  the  elder 
as  a  kind  of  ecclesiastical  patrol,  turning  his  bull's- 
eye  upon  the  spots  and  blemishes  in  church-mem- 
bers. Our  criminal  code  was  then  written  without 
and  within  with  blood ;  and  in  days  when  a  boy 
could  be  executed  for  stealing  five  shillings,  with- 
out even  a  remonstrance  from  the  Christian  heart 
of  the  country,  it  is  not  wonderful  that  our  church 
discipline  was  tinged  with  severity.  No  doubt 
records  and  minutes  are  cold  and  formal  things ; 
they  don't  give  us  a  photograph  of  the  meetings  of 
session ;  they  don't  record  the  faltering  voice  or  the 
tearful  eye  with  which  the  detailed  reports  were  re- 
ceived and  the  discipline  exercised.  As  some  of 
them  read,  they  don't  seem  to  breathe  the  spirit  of 
the  Christian  dispensation.  This  mistake  as  to  the 
chief  end  of  discipline  has  not  been  long  extinct. 
It  is  not  yet  forty  years  since  an  aged  acquaintance 
of  mine,  in  delicate  health  at  the  time,  chose  on  a 
wet  Sabbath  afternoon  to  go  to  a  church  at  her  door 
instead  of  her  own  at  a  distance.  For  this  offence 
she  was  taken  under  discipline  and  was  cut  off  from 
church-fellowship. 

An  elder  should  be  very  cautious  how  he  listens 


CASES    OF    DISCIPLINE.  63 

to  <'\'il  reports  against  a  member  of  the  Church, 
[f  he  encourages  tittle-taMe  of  this  kind,  he  will  hear 
plenty  of  it,  to  his  own  vexation.  But  if  a  report 
reaches  him  which  has  an  apparent  look  of  truth 
about  it,  or  if  he  has  himself  seen  anything  calling 
for  action  on  his  part,  he  should  lose  no  time  in  mak- 
ing inquiry  in  a  private  and  prudent  way.  First 
speak  to  your  brother  alone,  and  deal  with  him 
faithfully  and  kindly.  Be  straightforward  and 
candid.  Avoid  roundabout  ways  of  opening  the 
subject,  as  if  you  had  called  about  some  other  busi- 
ness. Be  in  no  hurry  to  bring  the  matter  before  the 
session  if  there  is  no  public  scandal,  and  always  con- 
sult with  your  minister  before  doing  so.  Every 
effort  must  be  made  by  you  privately,  in  the  spirit 
of  the  words,  "I  now  tell  you  even  weeping,"  and 
you  may  gain  your  brother.  I  have  heard  from 
elders  of  many  cases  where  a  manifest  blessing  fol- 
lowed discipline,  though  these  cases  never  reached 
the  session.  When  a  case  comes  before  the  session, 
as  it  ought  to  do  if  it  has  caused  scandal,  two  of  the 
brethren  are  usually  appointed  to  wait  on  the  of- 
fender. The  less  formality  and  publicity,  at  first 
at  least,  the  better.  The  supposed  publicity  and 
notoriety  of  sessional  dealing  is  against  the  hope 
of  penitence,  because  irritating  to  an  offender;  and 
there  should  be  no  delav,  for  that  may  give  him  a 
pillow  for  his  conscience,  as  if  he  had  not  got  full 
justice.  Avoid  coldness,  harshness  or  denunciation 
in  your  dealings.     These  are  not  likely  to  do  any 


64  -  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

good,  and  do  not  come  well  from  a  fellow-sinner 
saved  by  grace  who  acts  as  a  servant  and  represent- 
ative of  Jesus.  Let  us  beware  of  the  idea,  so  apt  to 
creep  into  our  minds  in  such  circumstances,  that  if 
we  are  just  faithful  enough  we  have  at  least  deliver- 
ed our  own  soul.  No ;  we  only  do  this  when  we 
have  prayerfully  and  humbly  done  all  that  we  can 
to  bring  our  erring  brother  to  the  feet  of  Jesus. 

The  experience  of  ministers  and  elders  has  often 
been  expressed  to  the  effect  that  the  ordinance  of 
discipline,  rightly  conducted,  is  frequently  blessed 
as  a  means  of  grace,  and  that  in  cases  where  the 
discipline  is  both  of  a  private  and  of  a  public  kind. 

Every  elder  is  himself  in  danger  of  backsliding, 
and  so  are  his  people.  Watching  over  this  is  part 
of  his  duty  as  appointed  to  feed  the  flock  (literally, 
to  tend  them  like  a  shepherd);  and  it  is  required  of 
him  that  he  be  found  faithful  in  this.  Watch  the 
beginnings  of  evil,  like  the  letting  out  of  water. 
Your  knowledge  of  each,  and  your  daily  intercourse 
with  all  classes  of  men,  will  make  you  of  quick  un- 
derstanding as  to  the  sin  likely  to  beset  each  of  your 
little  flock.  There  are  abounding  temptations,  es- 
pecially among  the  working  classes,  in  our  large 
towns.  There  are  far  too  many  public-houses  :  we 
say,  far  too  many,  as  an  opinion  in  which  all  must 
agree,  for  we  do  not  here  advocate  extreme  views, 
although  we  can  well  sympathize  with  them.  How 
much  hopeful  good  do  they  destroy!  how  many 
buds  of  early  promise  do  they  wither!     How  like 


BTIMULATING    CHUR4  H-MEMBERS.  05 

a  spider's  web  they  often  are  in  a  district !  Every 
faithful  elder  and  missionary  sorrowfully  knows 
that  there  are  far  too  many  "  licensed"  enemies  of 
his  work.  We  speak,  of  course,  of  the  system,  not 
of  individuals — a  system  which  instinctively  seems 
to  ally  itself  with  all  evil  influences. 


CHAPTER    X. 

MEMBERS   ENCOURAGED   TO   WORK. 

We  must  try  to  get  all  the  members  of  the 
church  practically  interested  in  the  work  of  Christ, 
for  "  none  of  us  liveth  to  himself."  It  was  said  of 
a  colt,  "  The  Lord  hath  need  of  him."  Much  more 
may  this  be  said  of  those  who  profess  to  be  living 
members  of  Christ's  body.  What  each  should  do 
will  depend  on  what  each  can  do,  for  "  she  hath 
done  ivhat  she  could  "  was  the  Master's  word  of 
approval.  "As  we  have  opportunity  "  is  the  rule 
laid  down  for  us.  What  a  change  would  appear  on 
the  Church  and  the  world  if  each  professing  Chris- 
tian were  doing  something — something  for  Christ — 
even  though  it  were  a  very  little !  Might  not  the 
wilderness  soon  be  turned  into  a  fruitful  field? 

Attention  to  personal  religion,  regular  reading  of 
the  word  and  prayer  is  the  first  duty.  This,  with 
the  care  of  a  family  and  conscientious  attention 
to  business,  will  leave  to  many  of  our  people  little 
time  for  duties  outside.     A  mother  may  adorn  the 


66  THE    ELDER   AND    HIS    WORK. 

doctrine  more  by  her  care  of  her  husband  and  chil- 
dren, and  by  keeping  a  tidy  and  well-ordered  house, 
than  if  she  neglect  these  and  engage  in  visitation  or 
teaching  the  poor.  Home  is  her  first  sphere,  and 
a  more  useful  one  she  cannot  find.  It  is  wonder- 
ful how  much  some  mothers  can  do  by  activity 
and  method  with  a  willing  heart.  Yet  other  things 
must  only  be  done  after  home-duties.  What  a  field 
of  usefulness  is  the  family !  Richer  and  brighter 
sheaves  are  not  to  be  found  in  God's  harvest  than 
can  be  gathered  in  by  a  praying  mother.  It  is  well 
for  the  elder  to  keep  this  in  view,  and  not  to  seem 
to  underrate  home-duties. 

The  husband  or  sons  should  be  encouraged  in 
their  lawful  callings,  and  an  elder  is  often  able  to 
give  practical  help  as  well  as  encouragement  in 
these. 

Let  us  engage  the  hearts  of  our  people  in  the 
cause  of  missions  at  home  and  abroad.  Alas  !  how 
little  do  the  perishing  heathen  lie  as  a  burden  on 
our  hearts  !  How  little  is  given  to  foreign  missions 
in  comparison  with  what  is  spent  on  ourselves  at 
home — our  houses,  our  furniture,  our  gardens,  our 
recreations !  The  missionary  cause  is  the  Church's 
great  work,  but  it  is  also  the  work  of  every  in- 
dividual member  of  it.  It  is  the  duty  of  an  elder 
very  specially  to  remind  his  people  of  this.  "The 
harvest  truly  is  plenteous,  but  the  laborers  are  few. 
Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he 
would  send  forth  laborers  into  his  harvest/'     This 


STIMULATING    CHURCH-MEMBERS.  07 

is  the  world's  harvest,  and  all  must  be  busy  in 
harvest-time.  Cases  have  been  known  where  the 
first  impulse  given  to  the  young  missionary  has  come 
from  the  elder  of  his  district.  Our  people  should 
feel  that  this  subject  is  near  our  hearts.  Let  us 
often  speak  of  it  to  them  ;  and  it  might  increase 
their  daily  interest  in  it  if  we  gave  each  family  a 
missionary-box,  into  which  there  might  be  put 
occasional  thank-offerings  for  family  mercies  re- 
ceived. Let  me  commend  to  elders,  for  their  own 
profit  and  that  of  their  people,  Dr.  James  Hamil- 
ton's tract  on  Thankfulness,  the  sermon  he  preached 
to  the  Wesleyan  Missionary  Society.  It  was,  we 
know,  his  own  favorite  of  all  his  writings,  and 
one  which   has  been  much   blessed. 

Members  of  the  Church  who  have  not  many  home- 
duties,  and  who  are  anxious  to  do  good,  should  be 
invited  and  encouraged  to  engage  in  such  work  as 
visiting  the  poor,  teaching  in  the  Sabbath-school, 
collecting  for  the  various  funds  of  the  Church,  or 
distributing  tracts,  assisting  at  mothers'  meetings, 
Dorcas  meetings,  psalmody  classes,  etc.  You  may 
thus  be  honored  to  set  some  to  work  who  will  be 
far  more  useful  than  you  have  ever  been.  I  have 
found  good  results  to  follow  from  taking  young 
people  to  see  well-conducted  Sabbath-schools  and 
other  Christian  agencies  at  work.  This  tends  to 
develop  any  desire  in  them  for  usefulness,  and  en- 
ables us  t<»  give  them  practical  hints  that  may  be  of 
lasting  value.     When  Dr.  Nettleton   was  a  young 


68  THE    ELDER   AND    HTS    WORK. 

man,  he  got  this  advice :  "Do  all  the  good  you  can 
in  the  world,  and  make  as  little  noise  about  it  as 
possible."  This  maxim,  he  says,  had  ever  after- 
ward great  influence  upon  him.  Given  to  him 
when  his  mind  was  very  impressible,  it  became  a 
rule  of  his  conduct  all  through  his  singularly  use- 
ful life. 

It  is  usually  best  when  young  people  begin  to 
work  that  it  be  in  connection  with  their  own  con- 
gregation. It  will  be  more  under  the  elder's  eye, 
and  young  and  timid  people  will  be  encouraged  by 
the  sight  of  well-known  faces.  They  will  get 
acquainted  with  other  working  members  of  the 
church  with  whom  they  may  have  Christian  fellow- 
ship, and  be  kept  from  a  good  many  dangers  that 
beset  those  who  take  up  work  at  their  own  hand. 
Plymouthists  and  other  sectaries  are  ever  hovering 
around  movements  outside  the  Church,  eager  to 
proselytize  for  their  little  sects  the  young  and  ardent 
disciples.  The  more  simple  and  private  kinds  of 
work  are  always  the  safest,  especially  for  beginners. 
Train  them  to  work  by  faith,  and  not  by  sight,  so 
that  they  will  have  a  motive  superior  to  external 
discouragements.  Don't  urge  any  to  engage  in 
many  things  at  once.  It  may  distract  and  over- 
burden them,  and  may  lead  to  their  giving  up  such 
work  altogether.  And  let  elders  warn  young  men 
against  neglecting  their  ordinary  business  or  giving 
it  but  a  secondary  place  in  their  thoughts.  An 
employer  once  complained  to  me  that  he  found  a 


STIMULATING    CHURCH-MEMBERS.  69 

clerk  studying  his  Sabbath-school  lesson  instead  of 
writing  his  ledger.  This  ought  not  to  be;  "  not 
slothful  in  business"  must  go  along  with  "fervent 
in  spirit."  An  experienced  friend  said  to  me,  "If 
a  man  is  not  good  at  his  own  business,  neither  the 
Church  nor  the  world  will  be  the  better  for  him." 

Let  elders  impress  on  their  people  that  their  daily 
commonplace  duties  may  become  a  means  of  grace 
to  them,  their  daily  mercies,  trials  and  anxieties  a 
means  of  fellowship  with  Jesus — that  he  should  be 
linked  with  every  detail  of  their  daily  life  by  their 
"  telling  Jesus  "  everything,  casting  every  burden 
on  the  Lord,  all  their  care  on  him. 

And  let  them  further  remind  them  that,  Avhile 
they  may  and  should  become  sowers  of  the  precious 
seed  of  the  word  in  the  Sabbath-school  or  elsewhere, 
they  should  remember  that  they  have  a  sphere 
which  none  but  themselves  can  occupy,  in  their 
own  families,  in  their  places  of  business  and  among 
their  acquaintances.  Let  them  seek  the  spiritual 
good  of  those  with  whom  they  come  daily  in  con- 
tact. Their  lives  as  well  as  their  lips  should  be 
scented  with  the  sweet  smell  of  the  Rose  of  Sharon. 
As  mechanics,  clerks,  masters,  mistresses,  servants, 
teachers,  governesses,  they  should  repeat  and  illus- 
trate the  good  lessons  of  the  Sabbath  by  being  living 
epistles  all  through  the  busy  week  from  the  Mon- 
day morning  till  the  Saturday  night. 

The  domestic  history  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in 
former  days  is  not  abundant.     One  can  understand 


70        THE  ELDER  AND  HIS  WORK. 

the  reasons  for  this,  and  also  how  in  our  day,  when 
of  making  books  there  is  no  end,  the  want  should 
be  so  much  greater.  Bat  to  one  who  has  at  all 
gone  back  on  the  past  it  is  a  very  striking  circum- 
stance that  the  earnest  effort  which  formerly  was 
directed  to  the  conversion  of  brothers  and  sisters, 
of  friends  and  companions,  now  finds  vent  in  the 
Sabbath-school,  and  even  in  more  public  means  of 
usefulness.  We  ought  all  to  remember  that  the 
sphere  of  duty  nearest  to  us  must  ever  be  first  at- 
tended to.  That  must  be  done,  while  we  should 
not  leave  the  other  undone. 

As  a  further  reason  for  elders  stirring  up  their 
people  to  good  works,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that 
Christians  derive  much  spiritual  health  and  blessing 
from  efforts  to  do  good  to  others.  Exercise  is  in- 
dispensable for  sound  health  either  of  body  or  soul. 
Elders  must  all  have  observed  that  one  who  has 
been  brooding  over  his  soul's  maladies  receives 
good  from  the  fresh  air  and  exercise  got  in  working 
for  Christ.  Many  have  felt  it  to  be  like  life  from 
the  dead  to  be  drawn  away  from  the  morbid  feeling 
of  their  own  spiritual  pulse  to  teaching  little  chil- 
dren the  simple  story  of  the  cross.  To  be  occupied 
with  our  little  selves  is  not  God's  way  of  making 
us  either  healthy  or  happy. 


SOCIAL    [NTERCOURSK  71 

(II  A  PTE  R   X  I. 


One  greal  evil  existing  in  our  congregations, 
especially  in  large  towns,  is  that  many  of  the  mem- 
bers do  not  know  or  take  an  interest  in  each  other. 
It  is  a  blessed  hope  that  we  shall  recognize  our 
friends  in  heaven,  but  let  us  begin  by  first  recogniz- 
ing them  on  earth.  We  have  actually  heard  of  peo- 
ple living  in  tlic  same  street  and  going  to  the  same 
church  for  years,  and  yet  passing  each  other  on  the 
street  without  even  a  friendly  nod  of  recognition — 
"because  they  had  never  been  introduced  "  !  There 
is  often  too  much  stiffness  even  among  good  people. 
Surely  worshiping  together  twice  every  Sabbath  in 
the  same  church,  and  sitting  down  together  at  the 
same  communion-table,  is  a  sufficient  introduction. 
Dr.  John  Brown  of  Edinburgh,  knowing  this  tend- 
ency, used  to  say  to  hi>  large  congregation,  after 
reading  the  list  of  young  communicants  and  other 
additions  at  each  communion,  "Now,  you  will  con- 
sider that  I  have  personally  introduced  all  these  to 
every  member  of  this  church." 

God  sets  the  solitary  in  families,  and  there  should 
be  a  family  feeling  among  the  members  of  a  con- 
gregation. This  feeling  an  elder  must  endeavoi^ to 
promote,  especially  among  those  in  his  own  district. 
Let  him  interest  the  neighbor-members  in  each  other. 
They  will  be  found  willing  to  show  each  other  kind- 


72  THE   ELDER   AND   HIS   WORK. 

ness  and  sympathy,  and  thus  be  helps  to  him  in  his 
work.  As  a  rule,  none  can  or  do  help  in  a  time 
of  affliction  like  Christian  neighbors. 

When  cholera  visited  Edinburgh  some  years  ago 
I  found  in  a  house  (not  of  my  district  or  congrega- 
tion) two  children  who  were  strangers  to  me.  On 
my  inquiring  where  they  came  from,  I  got  this  an- 
swer from  the  father  of  the  family :  "  Weel,  sir, 
they  lived  next  door  to  us;  and  one  night  their 
father  and  mother  both  died  of  cholera,  and  what 
could  my  wife  and  I  do  but  take  the  puir  bairns  in 
beside  us  ?  I  knew  that  our  ain  wee  things  would 
never  be  the  poorer  for  that;  and  we've  found  it 
so."  Yes,  the  good  man  was  right,  for  it  is  written, 
"  Blessed  is  he  that  considereth  the  poor ;  the  Lord 
will  deliver  him  in  time  of  trouble." 

As  akin  to  the  subject  of  members  being  ac- 
quainted with  each  other,  I  would  remark  that  there 
is  too  little  kindness  and  hospitality  shown  to 
strangers  at  our  church-doors.  All  such  should  be 
cordially  welcomed  by  office-bearers  there,  and  the 
members  should  be  willing  at  any  time  to  give  up 
their  seats  for  the  occasion  to  them.  The  open 
church-door  should  be  an  echo  of,  "  Ho,  every  one 
that  thirsteth,  come  ye  to  the  waters " — "  The 
Spirit  and  the  Bride  say,  Come."  We  could  men- 
tion striking  and  painful  results  of  the  want  of  such 
welcome ;  let  one  suffice.  Many  years  ago  now,  a 
youth  went  into  one  of  our  fashionable  churches. 


DUTY   TO   STRANGERS.  73 

He  sat  down  in  a  pew,  but  was  soon  rudely  ejected 
by  the  rightful  owner.  He  has  never  entered  a  church 
since  that  day.  His  pride  was  sorely  wounded,  and 
(in  conversation  with  a  friend,  who  told  me)  he 
dated  his  hatred  of  religion  and  the  Sabbath  to  that 
act  of  unthinking  and  unchristian  rudeness. 

Let  elders,  by  precept  and  example,  not  be  for- 
getful to  entertain  strangers  at  church.  A  casual 
visit  to  a  faithful  ministry  has  often  become  a  day 
never  to  be  forgotten. 

A  young  elder  is  too  apt  to  form  hasty  opinions 
about  his  people.  If  they  have  not  the  same  spirit- 
ual history  and  conformation  as  himself,  he  is  apt 
to  imagine  they  are  not  Christians  at  all.  Inex- 
perienced as  a  keeper  of  vineyards,  he  thinks  that 
every  plant  that  does  not  grow  exactly  to  one  pat- 
tern, and  that  his  own,  cannot  be  a  living  plant  at 
all.  The  late  Dr.  Tweed ie  of  Edinburgh  once  said 
to  me,  "  I  am  more  and  more  cautious  every  day  of 
thinking  or  saying  of  any  man  either  that  he  is  or 
is  not  a  true  believer/'  But  a  short  experience,  even 
of  his  own  district,  will  teach  an  elder  that  there  is 
as  much  diversity  in  the  kingdom  of  grace  as  in  the 
kingdom  of  nature  ;  that  the  Lord  brings  his  people 
in,  brings  them  up  and  brings  them  home  in  his 
own  way,  and  that   way  sovereign  and  diversified. 

An  elder  should  ^et  all  his  people  to  feel  a  deep 
interest  in  their  church  and  congregation,  in  the  ser- 
vices, meetings,   classes,   mission- work,  etc.     It   is 


74  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

always  an  unhealthy  sign  in  a  church-member  not 
to  care  much  for  the  church  and  congregation  he 
belongs  to.  Let  people  avoid  getting  into  a  grudg- 
ing, grumbling  way  about  church  matters,  but  rather 
take  a  hearty,  kindly  interest  in  them.  Many  things 
in  this  world,  both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  are  not 
what  they  should  be  and  might  be.  But  let  ns  not 
be  among  the  grumblers.  Thankful  for  what  good 
there  is,  let  us  put  to  our  hand  and  try  to  make 
things  better.  Like  Paul  in  Acts  xxviii.  3,  let  us 
gather  our  bundle  of  sticks  when  other  people  are 
only  crying  out  about  the  cold. 

You  will  often  be  asked  by  your  people  for  advice 
as  to  their  worldly  affairs.  Tins  is  natural  enough, 
as,  in  many  cases,  the  elder  is  the  only  disinterested 
friend  a  family  has  who  is  competent  to  give  advice 
on  such  matters.  This  advice  may  be  quite  right 
to  give,  though  only  when  particularly  asked  for; 
but  we  should  as  much  as  possible  avoid  being 
drawn  into  secular  connections  and  complications 
with  our  church-members.  Of  course  we  shall 
beware  of  direct  pecuniary  responsibility,  such  as 
becoming  security  for  rents  or  similar  obligations. 
We  can  do  much  to  draw  a  kindred  together  in 
harmony  and  love,  yet  not  interfere  so  as  to  run 
the  risk  of  making  our  good  evil  spoken  of.  Our 
office  and  our  work  are  both  spiritual,  and  our  er- 
rand to  our  people  is,  "  We  seek  not  yours,  but  you." 


RELATIONS   TO    PASTOR.  75 

CHAPTER    XII. 

ELATIONS    TO 
SESSION,    ETC. 

The  elder's  relations  to  the  minister  are  peculiar 
and  very  important.  Serving  the  same  Master  and 
solemnly  ordained  as  overseers  of  the  same  flock, 
they  should  labor  together  affectionately  and  faith- 
fully, that  the  word  may  have  free  course  and  be 
glorified. 

It  is  both  our  duty  and  our  privilege  to  hold  up 
our  minister's  hands  in  every  way — to  be  intimate 
with  him  ;  to  speak  well  of  him ;  and  to  seek  to 
gather  up  the  fruits  of  his  ministry.  Let  us  ever 
welcome  a  call  from  him  for  help,  relieving  him 
from  matters  of  business  or  routine,  so  as  to  save 
his  time  for  study  or  pastoral  work. 

An  elder,  being  accustomed  in  business  to  endless 
daily  details,  can  do  better,  and  more  easily  and 
quickly,  many  things  which  would  be  burdensome 
to  a  minister,  whose  work  lies  so  much  in  continuous 
thought.  I  was  struck  with  a  remark  a  minister 
once  made  to  me,  to  the  effect  that  while  he  had 
several  elders  who  could  give  him  valuable  help  in 
conducting  prayer-meetings  and  giving  addresses, 
"  he  was  greatly  in  want  of  men  who  would  take 
trouble  about  things." 

Regular  attendance  at  the  prayer-meetings  is  not 
only  good  for  ourselves,  but  good  also  as  an  example 


76  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

to  the  congregation.  Let  us  be  regularly  and  punctu- 
ally in  our  seats  in  church  on  Sabbath — as  regularly 
as  the  minister  is  in  the  pulpit,  or  rather  more  so,  for 
duty  will  sometimes  call  him  elsewhere.  The  late 
excellent  Henry  Wight  of  Edinburgh,  when  absent 
from  illness  and  obliged  to  leave  all  the  work  in  the 
hands  of  his  colleague,  thus  wrote  in  a  letter  to  his 
congregation:  "  Encourage  your  pastor  by  waiting 
diligently  on  his  ministry.  It  is  inconceivable  how 
much  this  enlivens  and  cheers  a  minister,  but  the 
neglecting  his  ministry  operates  as  strongly  in  the 
opposite  direction."  If  this  is  true — as  it  assuredly 
is — as  to  the  people,  how  much  more  is  it  true  as  to 
elders  and  other  office-bearers  ! 

Some  years  ago  I  had  the  privilege  of  visiting 
thirty  congregations  as  a  deputy  from  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  Free  Church.  What  I  saw  and 
heard  in  the  course  of  those  visits  led  me  to  form 
a  very  deep  conviction  that  the  revival  of  religion 
and  its  healthy  continuance  depend  much,  under 
God's  blessing,  on  the  hearty  co-operation  of  minis- 
ters and  elders.  It  would  be  a  kind  of  miracle  we 
have  no  right  to  expect  if  a  large  harvest  were 
gathered  in  when  there  is  not  loving  fellowship  in 
prayer  and  effort  among  all  those  who  are  engaged 
in  the  same  field  of  labor. 

An  elder's  advice  may  often  be  of  use  to  a  minis- 
ter, he  having  a  kind  of  experience  which  a  minister 
cannot  have.  Our  ministers  are  settled  in  congre- 
gations early  in  life,  after  spending  at  least  eight 


BEWARE   OF   GOSSIP.  77 

years  in  study,  often  with  few  opportunities  of 
gaining  experience  of  men  and  things.  The  wonder 
is,  not  that  such  young  ministers  do  occasionally 
make  practical  mistakes,  but  that  on  the  whole  they 
act  so  well  and  so  wisely.  It  will  rarely  occur  that 
judicious  hints,  kindly  given  by  an  elder  of  experi- 
ence, will  not  be  welcomed  by  the  minister.  For 
example,  a  minister  once  told  me  of  the  sagacious 
counsel  he  got  from  one  of  his  elders  at  his  entrance 
on  the  ministry.  Among  other  things,  the  elder 
warned  him  to  beware  of  giving  heed  to  or  sharing 
in  the  local  gossip  of  the  parish.  "  When  this  goes 
on  in  your  hearing,"  said  the  elder, "  not  only  don't 
join  in  stories  against  people — don't  even  say  you 
disbelieve  them,  but  say  nothing  at  all.  Perfect 
silence  on  the  subject  is  not  only  the  safest  course 
for  you,  but  is  the  best  rebuke  to  gossipers,  and 
they  will  soon  cease  to  trouble  you  in  this  way." 
The  advice  was  sound  and  judicious.  A  young 
minister  may  learn  much  from  his  elders,  from  their 
local  knoAvledge,  as  well  as  from  their  age  and  ex- 
perience in  the  world ;  and  they  should  feel  it  to  be 
their  duty  to  give  him,  discreetly  and  confidentially 
of  course,  such  advice  as  they  may  think  likely  to 
be  useful  as  to  the  kind  of  instruction  most  needed 
by  the  people,  the  style  of  preaching  best  suited  to 
them,  subjects  for  prayer,  plans  of  visiting,  etc.  Such 
hints,  being  the  results  of  experience,  will  be  valued 
by  the  minister.  There  should,  indeed,  be  in  all 
matters  connected   with   the  spiritual   interests   of 


78  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WORK. 

the  flock  a  constant,  confidential  and  affectionate 
intercourse  between  the  minister  and  the  elders. 
Let  them  welcome  and  support  every  proposal  he 
makes  in  the  way  of  new  efforts  for  doing  good — 
not  raising  needless  objections,  but  encouraging  him 
in  every  way  possible. 

In  no  way  can  elders  help  their  minister  more 
than  by  warm-hearted  sympathy  with  him  in  his 
work.  Every  position  in  life  has  its  own  anxieties 
and  cares  as  to  health,  means,  family  upbringing, 
etc.;  but  in  addition  to  all  these,  which  other  men 
have,  how  heavy  are  the  cares  and  burdens  ever 
lying  on  the  heart  of  a  faithful  minister  of  Christ ! 
No  business  or  profession  has  anything  like  them. 
No  department  of  human  labor  ever  witnessed  so 
much  self-sacrifice.  The  world  was  startled  in  184-3 
at  the  sight  of  hundreds  of  ministers  in  Scotland  sur- 
rendering their  worldly  all  at  the  call  of  a  Saviour 
whom,  having  not  seen,  they  loved,  for  when  did  the 
love  of  science  or  philosophy  ever  make  men  do 
such  a  thing?  But  it  was  not  the  sacrifice,  but 
the  number  of  men  who  simultaneously  made  it, 
which  was  the  novelty.  All  through  the  history  of 
God's  true  Church  there  have  been  instances  of  self- 
sacrifice  under  the  cares  and  burdens  of  the  minis- 
try, the  earnest  seeking  for  the  salvation  of  human 
souls  in  many  cases  wearing  out  the  earthen  vessel. 
John  Welsh  of  Ayr  could  not  sleep  a  whole  night 
without  prayer  for  the  three  thousand  souls  he  felt 
he  had  to  answer  for;  and  every  faithful  minister 


SYMPATHY    WITH    PASTOR.  79 

feels  the  weight  of  his  burden  to  be  indeed  too 
heavy  for  him.  With  head- work  and  heart-work 
his  labor  is   never  over. 

Surely  it  becomes  a  minister's  people,  and  espe- 
cially his  etrferx,  to  give  him  their  hearty  sympathy 
and  earnest  prayers.  Marvelous  power,  this  power 
of  sympathy!  "Could  ye  not  watch  with  me  one 
hour?'7  "  Will  ye  also  go  away  ?"  "  He  took  with 
him  Peter  and  the  two  sons  of  Zebedee,  and  began 
to  be  sorrowful  and  very  heavy."  It'  the  Chief 
Shepherd's  human  heart  yearned  for  human  sym- 
pathy, if  his  holy  soul  felt  comforted  by  having  his 
disciples  beside  him,  is  it  wonderful  that  his  ser- 
vants get  strength  and  joy  also  from  drinking  of 
this  brook  by  the  way? 

I  have  said  so  much  on  this  subject  because  of 
my  deep  conviction  that  we  elders  fall  short  in  tins 
duty  of  sympathizing  fully  with  our  ministers  in 
their  work.  Scotland  [and  the  same  may  be  said  of 
America]  owes  very  much  to  her  ministers  ever  since 
the  Reformation,  and  she  never  had  so  many  able 
and  earnest  ministers  as  in  our  own  day.  It  is  our 
duty  manfully  to  show  our  loyalty  to  them,  especially 
in  these  days,  when  so  many  talk  flippantly  and  ig- 
norantly  of  the  minister's  office  and  work. 

In  the  Memoirs  of  Thomas  Boston  of  Ettrick  he 
refers  to  one  of  his  elders,  William  Biggar,  who  ac- 
companied him  to  the  sacrament  at  Penpont  in  July, 
1709,  took  ill,  and  died   there.     "Among  his  last 


80  THE    ELDER   AND    HIS   WORK. 

words  were,  '  Farewell,  sun,  moon,  and  stars !  fare- 
well, dear  minister!  and  farewell  the  Bible  V  He 
blessed  God  that  ever  he  had  seen  my  face.  Thus 
the  Lord  pulled  from  me  a  good  man,  a  comfortable 
fellow-laborer,  and  a  supporter,  or  rather  the  sup- 
porter, of  me  in  my  troubles  in  this  place.  He  was 
always  a  friend  to  ministers.  Though  he  was  a 
poor  man,  yet  he  had  always  a  brow  for  a  good 
cause,  and  was  a  faithful,  useful  elder;  and  as  he 
was  very  ready  to  reprove  sin,  so  he  had  a  singular 
dexterity,  in  the  matter  of  admonition  and  reproof, 
to  speak  a  word  with  a  certain  sweetness,  that  it  was 
hard  to  take  his  reproofs  ill.  He  was  a  most  kindly, 
pious,  good  man.  May  the  blessing  of  God,  whose 
I  am  and  whom  I  serve,  rest  on  that  family  from 
generation  to  generation  \" 

While  we  do  not  touch  on  what  is  properly  the 
business  of  the  church-session,  we  may  urge  on  our 
brethren  the  importance  of  regular  attendance  on 
the  meetings  of  session.  If  health  permit  we  should 
attend  regularly;  we  shall  otherwise  fall  back  in 
our  knowledge  of  the  business  of  the  congregation 
and  get  out  of  sympathy  with  the  work.  It  is  de- 
pressing to  the  minister  and  to  those  who  do  attend 
to  see  few  elders  present,  and  often  it  causes  delays 
which  are  inconvenient,  and  maybe  injurious  to  the 
congregation.  Meetings  of  session  should  not  be 
held  too  often,  nor  be  so  protracted  as  to  lead  to 
family  inconvenience. 


STATED    MEETINGS    FOB    PRAYER.  Si 

Stated  meetings  for  prayer  should  (»  held  by  the 
elders  in  connection  with  ordinary  meetings  for 
business  or  otherwise.  In  some  congregations  the 
elders  meet  for  prayer,  along  with  the  minister,  for 
a  short  time  before  worship.  In  others  there  is  a 
short  meeting  after  the  afternoon  service,  when 
elders  can  report  cases  of  sickness  to  the  minister, 
and  he  can  confer  with  them. 

It  tends  to  stimulate  the  elder's  superintendence 
of  his  people  when,  at  the  regular  meetings  of  ses- 
sion, one  or  two  of  the  elders  are  asked  to  give  a 
brief  detail  of  their  mode  of  visiting  and  of  any 
interesting  occurrences  in  their  district.  In  the 
course  of  the  year  the  session  will  thus  hear  some- 
thing of  every  district  and  of  every  elder's  work. 
This  will  stimulate  visitation  and  make  the  session 
feel  that  the  flock  is  one,  and  some  points  in  one 
elder's  report  may  be  very  useful  to  his  brethren. 
The  minister,  "as  being  also  an  elder,"  may  some- 
times give  an  account  of  his  experience  and  methods 
of  visiting.  Where  this  plan  has  been  tried  it  has 
been  found  interesting  and  useful. 

In  some  congregations  the  elders  meet  by  them- 
selves once  a  month  during  the  winter  at  each 
other's  houses,  taking  tea  together  and  spending  the 
time  afterward  in  prayer  and  conference. 

The  elder  should  often  be  in  communication  with 
the  deacon  of  his  district,  advising  with  him  as  to 
persons  requiring  assistance,  and  aiding  him  as 
much  as  possible  in  his  efforts  for  gathering  in  sub- 

6 


82  THE    ELDER    AND    HIS    WoEK. 

scriptions  for  the  various  funds.  Where  there  are 
no  deacons  the  elder  will  have  to  include  the  duties 
of  that  office  with  those  of  his  own.  It  is  to  be 
hoped,  however,  that  before  many  years  elapse  the 
scriptural  office  of  the  deacon  may  exist  in  connec- 
tion with  all  our  Presbyterian  churches. 

Associations  of  elders  have  lately  been  formed  in 
various  parts  of  the  country.  The  elders  of  a  few 
congregations  meet  together  for  prayer  and  mutual 
encouragement  and  conference  as  to  their  work.  It 
is  to  be  feared  that,  from  carrying  too  far  the  spirit 
of  ecclesiastical  etiquette,  villages  or  districts  have 
been  neglected,  a  congregation  dreading  lest  they 
should  stir  up  denominational  jealousies  if  they  be- 
gan to  work  in  a  village  where  there  were  a  few 
members  of  other  churches.  These  things  ought 
not  to  be.  It  would  tend  to  much  good  if  the 
elders  of  the  various  churches  in  each  district  met 
freely  together.  It  would  be  good  as  well  as 
pleasant  for  brethren  thus  to  dwell  and  work 
together,  and  they  could  arrange  among  them  for 
any  neighboring  districts  which  had  none  to  care 
for  their  souls. 


ENCOURAGEMENTS.  83 

CHAPTER    XIII. 

INCIDENTS — ENCOURAGEMENTS    AND    DIS- 
COURAGEMENTS. 

Every  elder  who  has  been  many  years  engaged 
in  the  duties  of  that  office  can  recall  incidents  which 
stirred  his  soul  at  the  time  and  have  left  abiding 
marks  on  his  memory.  It  may  lead  to  a  deeper  in- 
terest in  the  subject  if  I  recall  one  or  two  of  those 
that  have  come  under  my  own  eye.  I  could  men- 
tion others,  but  I  am  restricted  to  those  in  which  I 
was  personally  interested,  and  where  it  is  impos- 
sible to  awaken  any  painful  feeling  among  relatives, 
the  billows  of  death  having,  as  I  know,  passed  over 
all  concerned. 

One  evening  I  received  a  message  to  visit  one  of 
my  people,  a  man  advanced  in  life,  who  had  been 
subject  to  attacks  of  bronchitis.  On  going  to  his 
house  I  found  him  sitting  at  his  fireside.  He  held 
out  his  hand  and  said,  "  Well,  I  am  going  home  at 
last.  I  have  been  ill  before,  but  I  know  that  this 
is  my  last  illness.  I  wish  you  to  help  me  to  set  my 
house  in  order  before  I  die.  I  bless  God  I  have 
not  now  a  Saviour  to  seek.  I  have  some  money  in 
the  bank,  and  I  wish  you  to  draw  it  out  and  pay 
the  expenses  of  my  grave  and  of  my  funeral.  I 
have  no  debts,  but  you  will  pay  my  landlady  for  a 
month's  lodging  and  board;  and  then  you  will  use 
what  is  over  to  help  poor  old  Christian  people." 


<S4  THE    ELDEK    AND    HIS    WORK. 

These  were  his  instructions,  bat  I  hesitated  to 
receive  them,  saying  I  hoped  he  would  be  raised  up 
from  his  present  sickness.  He  heard  me  as  though 
he  heard  me  not,  but  when  I  spoke  to  him  of  his 
hope  in  Jesus  all  seemed  steady  and  firm.  His 
anchor  was  cast  within  the  veil,  and  he  could  say, 
"My  Beloved  is  mine,  and  I  am  his."  He  had 
been  for  many  years  a  steady-going  Christian  man, 
not  speaking  much,  but  very  consistent,  and,  con- 
sidering his  means  and  station  in  life,  very  liberal 
to  the  cause  of  God.  Knowing  that  he  had  no 
relatives  surviving,  I  saw  it  to  be  my  duty  to 
undertake  the  strange  task  of  preparing  for  and 
paying  beforehand  the  expenses  of  his  funeral.  I 
then  submitted  the  accounts  to  him,  and  he  was 
able  to  glance  over  them  without  the  slightest  recoil. 
He  could  face  death,  for  to  him  it  had  lost  its  sting 
and  the  victory  wras  already  won.  As  he  gave  over 
to  me  the  balance  which  remained  he  said,  "  I  am 
very  thankful ;  now  I  have  no  business  but  with 
my  Saviour  only." 

My  next  visit  found  him  in  bed,  evidently  worse, 
and  one  Sabbath  evening  wTithin  a  week  of  my  first 
visit  I  saw  he  was  about  to  depart.  After  my  re- 
peating to  him  the  twenty-third  Psalm  he  affection- 
ately bade  me  "  good-bye."  Three  hours  after  he 
fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  I  may  add  that  a  blessing 
seemed  to  rest  on  his  loving  bequest.  It  lasted 
long,  like  the  widow's  cruse  of  oil,  and  many  a 
poor  one  was  the  better  of  it. 


ENCOURAGEMENTS.  85 

"As  thy  (lays,  so  shall  thy  strength  be."  Elders 
must  have  observed  cases  where  those  who  have 
been  all  their  lifetime  subject  to  bondage  through 
fear  of  death  have  had  this  promise  fulfilled  when 
the  last  enemy  approached.  The  Lord  gives  dying 
grace  for  a  dying  hour,  but  he  does  not  often  give 
it  to  us  when  we  are  in  full  health  and  strength. 
A  dear  youth,  who  gave  peculiar  promise  of  a  use- 
ful life,  had  been  suffering  from  illness  for  a  few 
days,  when  unexpectedly  fatal  symptoms  began  to 
show  themselves.  He  sent  for  me  that  afternoon, 
and  told  me  what  had  been  faithfully  told  himself. 
With  a  mingled  expression  of  timidity  and  faith 
he  asked  me  as  a  favor  to  "sit  beside  him  till  he 
crossed  the  river."  But  a  few  hours  elapsed,  yet 
how  sweetly  did  his  face  brighten  hour  by  hour ! 
He  gave  me  his  joyful  testimony  that  that  promise 
was  fulfilled  to  him  :•  "Yea,  though  I  walk  through 
the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  /  will  fear  no 
evil,  for  thou  art  with  me."  Those  who  have  been 
at  believers'  deathbeds  must  have  observed  the  fact 
that  often  there  is  then,  as  it  appears  to  a  bystander, 
some  special  discovery  of  the  presence  of  Jesus,  so 
filling  the  soul  that  there  is  no  feeling  of  leaving, 
but  one  of  entering — not  a  farewell,  but  a  joyful 
welcome,  reminding  us  of  the  promise  to  the  King's 
bride  in  the  forty-fifth  Psalm :  "  With  gladness 
and  rejoicing  shall  they  be  brought;  they  shall 
enter  into  the  King's  palace." 

"The  Lord   will   perfect  that  which  concerneth 


86  THE   ELDER   AND    HIS    WORK. 


filled  in  reference  to  dying  believers.  An  aged 
woman  who  was  for  several  years  an  invalid  had 
been  enabled  to  cast  the  burden  of  her  guilt  on 
Jesus.  But  she  had  yet  one  burden  on  her  heart, 
the  care  of  an  only  and  sickly  daughter.  All  her 
burdens  but  this  she  was  able,  she  said,  to  cast  over 
on  him.  One  day  when  I  called  her  daughter  said 
to  me,  "  My  mother  is  near  home  now,  I  think,  for 
she  says  she  has  given  me  up  to  Jesus."  I  found 
it  true,  for  she  mourned  over  the  unbelief  which 
had  led  her  so  long  to  try  to  carry  this  burden 
herself,  and  she  rejoiced  in  the  thought  of  being 
in  debt  for  everything  and  for  ever  to  the  free 
grace  of  her  covenant  God.  It  was  my  last  visit. 
She  went  home  that  night,  "  to  be  for  ever  with 
the  Lord." 

Elders  will  receive  much  good  for  their  own  souls 
in  the  faithful  discharge  of  their  duties.  "  They 
that  wait  on  the  Lord  shall  renew  their  strength." 
We  shall  not  serve  the  Lord  for  naught.  As  Sam- 
uel Rutherford  said,  "  They  that  go  on  errands  to 
him  for  others  will  always  get  something  for  them- 
selves." In  watering  others  our  own  souls  shall 
be  watered.  We  do  not  serve  a  hard  Master  who 
prescribes  a  duty  and  sends  us  on  the  warfare  at 
our  own  charges;  but  when  duty  begins  privilege 
begins,  and  the  promised  grace  begins  too. 

Elders  will  also  get  many  a  lesson  as  from  year 


ENCOURAGEMENTS.  87 

to  year  they  tend  their  little  flock.  It  was  my 
privilege,  when  ordained  as  a  deacon  in  1844,  to 
have  in  my  district  the  well-known  and  beloved 
Alexander  Paterson,  the  "  Missionary  of  Kilmany." 
Many  lessons  did  I  get  from  that  " old  disciple," 
now    Ion--  since  gone  to  his   resl    and    reward. 

"Every  life  has  it-  lesson,"  is  a  remark  especially 
true  of  every  believer.  For  the  last  thirty  years  I 
have  kept  a  list  of  the  names  of  all  friends  who 
have  departed.  That  is  now  a  very  long  list,  and 
there  are  in  it  many  names  of  the  "just  made  per- 
fect." I  am  struck  with  observing  that  in  reference 
to  most  of  these  there  is  a  useful  lesson  left  on  my 
memory.  So  will  every  elder  find  in  reference  to 
his  people.  Each  individual  believer  will  be  on 
his  mind  as  a  living  lesson  of  some  grace  of  the 
Spirit.  How  many  testimonies  to  God's  love  and 
faithfulness  will  be  furnished  even  by  the  small 
section  of  the  vineyard  of  which  he  is  the  overseer! 
The  work  of  the  eldership  will  be  in  this  and  many 
other  ways  its  own  reward. 

We  would  also  here  add  the  remark  that,  while 
each  elder  should  have  not  only  a  definite  purpose, 
but  also  a  definite  plan  of  operation,  yet  it  is  of 
great  importance,  both  for  his  own  sake  and  that 
of  his  people,  that  he  should,  in  his  way  of  carrying 
out  his  plans,  be  ever  ready  to  avail  himself  of  new 
suggestions.  Occasional  variety  in  matters  of  detail 
gives  a  new  freshness  and  interest  which  help  to 
prevent  the  feeling  of  dullness  and  formality.     We 


88  THE   ELDER   AND   HIS   WORK. 

must  avoid,  on  the  one  hand,  constant  change  of 
plans,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  unvarying  routine. 
The  working  of  our  plans  should  have  the  benefit 
of  our  growing  practical  experience. 

Humbled  for  past  un worthiness,  let  elders  work 
on  steadily  and  prayerfully,  looking  for  and  expect- 
ing the  blessing.  There  will  be  fruit  of  our  sowing, 
for  that  is  promised ;  and  usually  we  shall  see  fruit, 
though  that  is  not  promised.  Some  men  have  passed 
away  from  their  work  to  their  reward  thinking  they 
had  been  of  little  or  no  use  in  the  world,  when  it 
was  found  that  much  good  had  been  done  by  them. 
With  others,  again,  there  is  a  tendency  to  exagge- 
rate in  their  own  minds  what  they  have  been  enabled 
to  do.  While  it  is  very  encouraging  to  know  that 
the  Lord  has  blessed  our  work,  it  requires  much 
grace  safely  for  ourselves  to  see  much  fruit.  Every 
one  is  not  led  to  say,  or  at  least  to  fed,  as  Dr. 
Chalmers  did  when  told  of  a  conversion  under  his 
preaching,  "  That  is  very  humbling." 

Then  we  are  apt  to  forget  a  great  principle  of 
God's  word,  "One  soweth  and  another  reapeth." 
In  the  rescue  of  a  drowning  man  one  person  might 
give  the  alarm,  a  second  might  bring  a  rope,  a 
third  might  throw  it  to  him,  and  a  fourth  might 
draw  him  to  shore.  It  could  be  said  truly  of  all 
these  four  that  they  were  instruments  in  saving  the 
man  from  death.  So  is  it  in  the  salvation  of  souls. 
as  proved  by  the  history  of  individuals.  God  work- 
eth  all  in  all,  but  he  often  uses  several  different  in- 


WE   SHOULD   BE    HUMBLE.  89 

slruments  for  the  ingathering  of  his  elect,  u  that  no 
flesh  should  glory  in  his  presence."  How  often 
would  our  poor  hearts  try  to  get  credit  for  being 
the  only  instrument  in  the  salvation  of  a  sinner ! 
No,  we  can  be  of  much  use,  and  I  believe  often  are 
of  much  use,  where  we  see  no  necessary  connection 
between  our  own  work  and  the  salvation  of  men. 
It  is,  in  one  sense,  a  humbling  view  this.  It  ex- 
cludes all  boasting  in  ourselves.  It  is  well  for 
many  that  the  good  they  do  is  hidden  from  them 
till  they  are  able  to  bear  it.  And  yet  it  is  very 
encouraging  too,  for  though  we  may  not  be  able  to 
do  any  great  thing,  we  can  yet  do  many  little  things. 
Let  us  rejoice  to  be  even  the  smallest  and  humblest 
link  in  that  chain  of  love  and  grace  by  which  Jesus 
is  drawing  sinners  to  himself.  How  well  for  us 
and  the  souls  we  care  for  that,  from  first  to  last, 
"  salvation  is  of  the  Lord  "  ! 

Elders,  like  all  other  laborers  in  the  vineyard, 
have  much  need  to  go  softly  and  to  watch  and  pray. 
Self-seeking  and  men-pleasing  are  too  apt  to  come 
in  and  blunt  the  edge  of  our  motives  and  actions. 
The  enemy  is  often  allowed  to  make  much  use  of 
God's  own  people  in  doing  his  work  of  evil.  The 
praise  of  good  men  is  in  some  respects  more  insid- 
ious and  dangerous  than  that  of  others.  Scriptural 
commendation  is  not  flattery,  but  there  are  good 
people  in  the  world  who  do  much  harm  by  ill-timed 
and  unnecessary  commendation,  which  may  spread 
as  mildew  over  the  souls  of  those  they  commend  so 


90  THE   ELDER   AND    HIS    WORK. 

much.  If  it  be  true  that  "  flattery  is  sweet,  even 
from  the  lips  of  an  idiot,"  how  much  sweeter  will  it 
be,  and  how  much  more  dangerous,  to  the  poor, 
half-sanctified  human  heart,  coming  from  "such 
good  people " !  Avoid  people  who  are  always 
telling  you,  directly  or  indirectly,  what  a  good 
man  you  are  and  what  a  great  deal  of  good  you 
do. 

Let  us  honor  the  Holy  Sjririt.  We  are  entirely 
dependent  on  him.  The  more  we  feel  this  as 
churches,  as  congregations,  as  pastors,  as  elders, 
the  more  will  we  say,  "All  our  springs  are  in  thee." 
We  cannot  continue  to  exist  as  churches  unless  he 
adds  to  the  churches  daily  such  as  shall  be  saved, 
and  gives  his  added  people  to  know  the  privilege 
expressed  in  the  words,  "  Freely  ye  have  received, 
freely  give"  We  cannot  live  on  the  memory  of 
past  blessing ;  we  must  be  daily  pleading,  "  Wilt 
thou  not  revive  us  again,  that  thy  people  may  re- 
joice in  thee?" 

As  elders,  individually  set  to  watch  over  the  peo- 
ple committed  to  us,  let  us  feel  that  we  can  do  real, 
lasting  good  to  the  souls  of  our  people  only  so  far 
as  the  Spirit  blesses,  and  no  further.  And  this 
blessing  is  sure,  for  He  is  faithful  that  hath  prom- 
ised, "  If  ye  then,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give 
good  gifts  unto  your  children,  how  much  more  will 
your  heavenly  Father  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  them 
that  ask  him!" 


DISCOURAGEMENTS.  91 

Elders  will  meet  with  discouragements.  In  some 
of  the  members  and  adherents  there  may  seem  to  be 
little  to  give  us  hope  that  our  prayers  have  been  an- 
swered. Some  who  ran  well  are  hindered.  In 
others  the  cares  of  the  world  and  the  deceitfulness 
of  riches  appear  to  choke  the  word,  and  we  may  at- 
tend deathbeds  which  want  the  full  assurance  of 
an  abundant  entrance  into  the  kingdom.  But 
our  chief  discouragement  will  come  from  our 
own  hearts — from  our  coldness,  our  unbelief,  our 
lukewarm ness,  our  tendency  to  get  into  a  formal 
routine. 

Let  us  encourage  ourselves  in  the  Lord  our  God 
— in  his  sure  word  of  promise  and  his  evident  an- 
swers to  prayer.  We  feel  persuaded  that  in  no  sim- 
ilar work  for  Christ — not  even  in  Sabbath-school 
teaching — are  men  more  encouraged  to  sow  beside 
all  waters  than  in  the  duties  of  the  eldership.  To 
be  but  hewers  of  wood  and  drawers  of  water  in  such 
a  Master's  house  would  be  a  great  honor,  but  ours 
is  still  greater.  As  "  friends  of  the  Bridegroom," 
to  be  helps  and  witnesses  to  the  betrothal  of  sin- 
ners to  Jesus;  to  stand  by  and  see  the  salvation 
of  God  ;  to  watch  the  operations  of  his  hand ;  to 
guide  and  encourage  his  ransomed  ones  on  their 
way  Zionward ;  and  to  see  many  of  them  safe 
home  before  himself, — this  is  the  privilege  of  a 
faithful  elder. 

It  is  but  a  few  short  years  any  of  us  will  have  to 
do  this  service  for  our  Lord  here  below.     Let  us  do 


92  THE    ELDER   AND   HIS    WORK. 

it  heartily,  with  all  our  might,  and  always  as  to  the 
Lord. 

"And  when  the   Chief  Shepherd  shall 
appear,  ye  shall  receive  a  crown  of  glory 

THAT  FADETH  NOT  AWAY." 1  Pet.  V.  4. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Advice  as  to  Worldly  Af- 
fairs   74 

An   Elder    of   the    Olden 

Time 79 

Associations  of  Elders 82 

Attendance  at  Meetings  of 

Session 80 

Attention  to  Strangers 72 

Books  to  be  Given...  51 

Cases  of  Discipline 61 

Children 35 

Conversation   when    Visit- 
ing   23 

Dependence  on  the  Spirit..  90 
Direct  Personal  Dealings...  18 

Duties  of  Elders 12 

Elders'  Holidays 57 

Elders'  Qualifications 7 

Elders  Receive  Good 86 

Elders  to  Aid  Ministers 75 

Elders  to  be  Instant  in  Sea- 
son and  out  of  Season....  50 
Elders  to  be  Ready  for  ev- 
ery Good  Work 55 

Encouragements   and  Dis- 
couragements   83 


PACK 

Evangelistic  Work 56 

Family  Worship 33 

Getting  Members  to  Work 

for  Christ 65 

Importance  of  the  Elder- 
ship   5 

Incidents  in  Elders'  Work..  83 

Inquirers 41 

Members  to  be  Interested 

in  each  Other 71 

Missions G(j 

Need  of  Humility 88 

People  Leaving 52 

Prayer-Meetings 46 

Roll-Books 17 

Servants 44 

Size  of  Districts 16 

The  Faithful  Elder's  Re- 
ward    92 

The  Sabbath  in  Families...  40 

The  Sick 28 

Visitation  of  a  District 21 

Young  Communicants 42 

Young  Men  and  Women...  36 
Young    Men    Coming    to 

Town 53 

93 


